I called 911 on an erratic driver: does anything happen?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Yesterday I was following a car on the I-95 that was swerving, straddling two lanes, and avoided hitting a cement barrier wall by inches. He had two near misses of sideswiping cars when straying from his lane. I’ve never seen anything like it.

He got off at my exit and continued the same behavior on the four-lane road. I got behind him to get the plate number and saw he was staring at his crotch – so giving self road head or texting (I vote for texting). He turned off, parked at a store, and went in. I was hoping he’d stay on the road, as the stretch is highly patrolled by local cops and chances are they could have caught the car.

I called 911 after he left the car and gave the plate number and car location. The dispatcher said a cop was on the way and I could go ahead and leave. (So I did). I was really tempted to confront the guy, but common sense kicked in.

Does anything happen in a case like this? For example, could a cop locate the car, wait for the asshole, and take action based just on my report? I hesitated to call because I didn’t know if it would have any effect if he had left the car.

2

I don’t know. I did the same thing once. A woman was swerving all over the road and in a 5 mile stretch almost caused multiple accidents. I called the police and gave a description of the car, the licence plate number and the driver.

When she got off the road I saw another car following her whose driver was on their cell phone. I assumed they followed up.

Since they nearly caused multiple accidents I called the police a few days later, they said they didn’t know anything about it. So in my case, no.

3

I was once in a car with my mom, where we witnessed something similar. When she called 911, they told her that that didn’t constitute an emergency, and to stop wasting their time.

4

I called 911 on a woman in the car ahead of me who was swerving all over the country road we were on. The operator had me keep an eye on her as best as I could without speeding until a cop showed up. Then they asked me to stop a distance away and wait for the cop. After he had talked to her, he came over and talked to me, told me she was on some sort of prescription medicine, and thanked me.

5

We were on our way home on the Jersey Turnpike, doing a bit above the speed limit, when some fool on a green crotch rocket flew by. I called the emergency number for the state troopers and saw some on overpasses within a few minutes. I like to think that they were responding to my call.

6

Yeah, I’m phobic about calling 911 for anything but “real” emergencies. A few summers ago my car started on fire in my driveway and flames were licking up toward tree branches. I was hesitant about 911-ing until my wife, a retired FDNY paramedic and 911 dispatcher, screamed at me to call RIGHT NOW THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!

At least I would know I tried to do something if the idot caused an accident. BTW, the dispatcher did treat my call as a valid emergency.

7

I call my stretch of the Turnpike (from roughly Cranbury to Trenton) " Satan’s Stretch." Whoo, krazy shit goes down on the TP; I fully expect that I’ll meet my demise on the TP.

8

The answer is yes, if possible.

I used to dispatch for the Highway Patrol. If we got a call about a driver like that, the response would depend on where it was and who was in position for it.

On one hand, there might not be a trooper on that stretch of interstate, or a town with a city cop close. In that case we’d contact the county and see if they had a deputy close.

If there was nobody close or we couldn’t determine, it would usually go out as a general broadcast on our frequencies. Since most agencies/officers scan other local agencies, it was assumed/hoped that if anyone was close they’d hear and either head that way or keep their eyes open. The other alternative, if it was a highway that passed through several jurisdictions, was the mutual aid freq that everybody also monitored and could talk amongst agencies on.

Next best would be to have an officer somewhere that could intercept the vehicle. If they could catch it they’d usually pull out over to check it out.

Best case is somebody who is able to stay behind the vehicle, even better if they’re willing to testify should something big come of it.

We would almost never do nothing. The liability were we to sit on a complaint and someone gets killed was hanging over us all the time.

9

I wonder if dash cam footage would count as evidence of a dangerous driver if he’s not caught in the act by cops? I have a cam rigged for track footage in my other car, maybe I’ll get a cheapo version for this car.

The potholes are so big on my route I initially thought he was using the Jersey/PA Autocross Moves to avoid damage. When I have that stretch of road largely to myself I do some lane straddling to protect my suspension, rims, and wheels.

Oooh, forgot to say that the bulk of his death driving was in a 45mph work zone that poses challenges to alert drivers.

10

In Ohio, we have dedicated numbers to call for “impaired drivers” (1-800-grab-dui).

My understanding is that they will not act directly on your descriptions, but they will dispatch an officer to the area to find the car and witness for themselves any impairment that is preventing safe driving.

11

Here’s my personal experience with that.

When we were in college, my brother and I were headed to our parents’ home on the Interstate, and there was a very distinctive-looking car (IIRC, it was mint green) weaving around and driving fast, and then slow. Since this was before cell phones, we agreed that we would pull over at the next exit and call the state troops. He did that, and we weren’t 5 miles down the road when we saw that car pulled over and the driver appeared to be getting a sobriety test.

12

Mrs Piper and I have done it twice, and both times there was follow-up from the police.

The first time we were driving home in our residential area. 50 km speed limit, but most people drive more like 30 k, because it’s a residential area, narrow streets, cars parked on the side, kids playing, etc.

But this day, we got passed by a black sports car that must have been doing 60! It was clearly under control, just going way too fast for a residential area.

Mrs Piper took down the licence plate number and called 911 to report it as dangerous driving. We got home a few minutes later, and within 10 minutes there was a cop car outside our house. The two officers came in and took as much information as they could from us. They were very interested because the plates did not match the car. The plates had been stolen from another car, and they thought the car was stolen as well.

We both had the impression that they knew more about the car and driver than they could share, but they thanked us several times for making the call.

The second time, Mrs P and I were again driving home from work. This time, we were in the downtown area and traffic was blocked up. As we inched along, we realised that the blockage was caused by a car with an elderly driver. He was stopped in a traffic lane and was waving people to pass him.

Mrs P called 911 to let them know that there was something odd going on. We managed to pass him and drove home.

The next day, Mrs P got a call on her cell from the 911 folks. They wanted to thank her for calling 911, because it turned out that the elderly driver had had a stroke. He was disoriented, but knew enough to stop driving right away. The 911 person told Mrs P that she couldn’t give out much personal health details, but the fellow was doing well in hospital.

She also passed on to Mrs P that the doctor had said that the nature of the stroke could have killed him if not treated quickly, which they were able to do because of the 911 call!

So yes, calling 911 about strange driving does get taken seriously and does get results, at least in our city.

13

For the non-metrically inclined, that speed demon was doing 37 mph in a 31 mph zone.

I’m surprised a troop of Mounties with air support wasn’t called in to deal with the threat.

14

I work at a 9-1-1 centre.

Yes, we get reports of reckless drivers. Generally these are difficult for the police to be able to take action on since they need to locate the vehicle and generally observe a violation themselves. Perhaps they could issue a citation supported by video evidence instead of direct observation.

But on rare occasion such driving is an indication of some other problem. We have seen on rare occasion where our 911 centre was able to determine such vehicle was racing to the hospital for a dire medical emergency. In such cases police here have accompanied the vehicle to the hospital, helping to clear the way through traffic.

15

(I wonder if the switchboard would get overloaded if too many called about the same idiot.)

“Look at that shithead, they’re swerving 'crost two lanes of traffic!”
“I got my cellphone right here in my bag!”
So they called 911 'mergency, and much to their surprise
The whole road had called 'bout the maniac!

“Jackass” I said as they swerved out the exit to Pittsburgh
Barriers rocked as the car sped on by
It took me four rings to get to a dispatcher
'Cause the whole road has called 'bout the maniac!

Almost hit a bus
Should have seen all their faces
Looked like the man in the gabardine suit dropped a load.
I said, “It’s certain that all passengers now have cell phones.”

“I see a new opening, I think I might find a payphone.”
“We passed the last one a decade ago.”
So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine
And the loon sped into an open field.

“Here come the cops” I said, though I knew we weren’t speeding
They’re coming and coming and, oh, I know why
Millions of cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
And they’ve all had to call 'bout the maniac!
To call 'bout the maniac!
To call 'bout the maniac!

16

We just had a thread about calling 911. I’ve called more times than I can count. Personally, I have no issues calling them. Don’t get me wrong, I (generally) don’t call them for non-emergency issues, but as far as I’m concerned, if there’s an issue, I’ll call them and they can sort it out. For example, if there’s an orange construction barrel rolling around on a busy road and people are swerving around it. I’ll call them, they can handle it.
As for drivers that appear intoxicated, I’ve called plenty of times, sometimes they’ve sent someone out, sometimes I was clearly blown off. Honestly, if I tell the dispatcher what’s going on and they respond with ‘ok, we’ll send someone out’ but don’t ask anything about the car or even my location, I know it’s not happening.

A while back I was talking to someone that, at first, I thought he had a speech impediment…then maybe he had some issues with his knees or legs or something…then he slurred ‘sorry, I’m just really fucked up’. I was surprised when I saw him get in a car, so I jotted down the make/model/plate and called 911. They said they’d send someone out, but since I wanted to be anonymous, nothing would happen if the officer doesn’t observe it.

I remember one of the times the dispatcher brushed me off and thinking 'if this guy gets into a wreck, I’m gonna call the local news and have them get the recording. I was probably 17 or 18 at the time so it’s possible I might have said that to her and not just thought it.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like trying to dial an 800 number, with letters, while driving and following someone that’s potentially not safe to be on the road, would be kind of a PITA.
I’m curious why they would separate DUI calls from all the other emergencies. ISTM it’s easier to just have one number to use when there’s a problem, be a house fire or someone that might get on the freeway in the wrong direction.

17

Unfortunately some people do not understand that 911 is a free call for the caller. (It’s not free for the 9-1-1 center. Our phone bills are HUGE.) And as such some people are reluctant to call, or to stay on the line, thinking they are using up their cell phone credit. But they tend to know that 1-800 numbers are free, so they will call that.

Our jurisdiction did have a separate number for reporting DUIs. The only person, and I do mean the (singular) only person, who ever called that number was the very vocal person who advocated fiercely that we should set up such a special separate number.

When it came time to cut things as our budget tightened during the recession this was one of the first things to go. Why pay a separate line charge just for this one person to have a special number to call?

Just call 9-1-1. It is easier.

18

We can get overwhelmed by multiple calls, though rarely for an impaired or reckless driver. If the same vehicle attracts the attention of three callers enough to cause them to make a 9-1-1 call then that is a large number of calls about the same vehicle.

But nothing floods the lines like a fire in a very visible location during rush hour. The lines will be overflowing non-stop until a fire truck can squeeze through traffic to arrive on scene.

I don’t blame motorists for calling in reports, not knowing that someone else has already called in the matter. But I wish there was some sign that could be posted or sticker that could be put on a vehicle when a crashed car is left in a roadside ditch. (Yes, this has already been reported to 9-1-1!) We will get calls repeatedly for as long as it takes to get the car towed out of there, even if it takes a few days.

19

Ohio’s DUI number has been around a while. I’m not sure every county even had 911 when they started it. And I imagine part of the idea was to advertise DUI as something so important to report that it had its very own phone number, which you wouldn’t even need a quarter to call.

20

I’m looking up old news articles, and this was more true than I imagined. The 800 number dates to 1991 at the latest. In 2000 there were still articles about ten rural counties without 911 service*, and how the state was hoping to get 911 in every county by 2002.

*One of them, in the year 2000, had emergency calls going to a general store.