I am driving south this morning like every morning on the Garden State Parkway. I am in the fast lane and I have to swerve a little to avoid that pest of the highways, a “Road Gator”.
For those who do not know what a “Road Gator” is, they are the large pieces or a complete piece of treads of truck tires. Apparently, to save money trucks will get tires retreaded. These retreads will sometimes come off. They mostly fly to the side of the road and are seen most often on the shoulders looking just a little like an alligator basking in the sun.
So back to this morning, I easily avoided the peril of a “Road Gator”, which was stuck next to a guardrail and thus could not complete its migrations to a nice warm shoulder. I then put on my earpiece and dialed 911. I reported the potential cause of an accident and gave the mileage marker to assist in the safe and swift removal of this poor lost “Road Gator”. They asked for my cell phone number and I tried to remember and finally went, “I don’t know”.
Finally my questions:
Would you call in a “Road Gator” that was partially in the road or other similar obstruction? Remember it is on your dime.
Do the Emergency service crews actually appreciate these calls or am I just being annoying?
Why do they want my cell phone number? Is it just for verification that I am not crank calling?
Have you ever heard the phrase “Road Gator” or do you have another name for these loose retreads?
I call in obstructions in the road all the time. Sure yours was easily avoidable, but if some one dinged it a little it might flip back into the road or through someones windshield. My rule of thumb is that if it could cause an accident, you should call for help. Most likely there’s a sherriff or trooper in the area that can pull it out of the road.
I report 'em all the time, though round here the slang seems to be “truck turds”, instead of Road Gators. Well, south of here, actually; there’s supposedly a law in my state disallowing retreads (I haven’t verified this). I can state that I don’t usually see them much until I cross into the neighboring states. I don’t bother reporting them unless they’re actually in the road, though.
I report just about everything, actually. At least one of the local 911 operators knows my voice (and I’m getting to where I can recognize hers). I’ve been thanked by the operators, police, firemen, and the Incident Response Team (who wander the highways in big trucks helping stranded drivers, moving debris, etc.). I’ve sat on the phone with the 911 operator calling out directions while following a drunk driver, up until he was nailed by two cruisers. I’ve called in reports of someone’s car being on fire (no joke), random household garbage falling out of an unsecured load on a pickup (idiots), and who knows what else. 911 presumably, heh.
Anyway, my point is, not once have I been criticized or asked to not bother. They’ve thanked me each and every time. And while you may be right about it being on your own dime, I’ve yet to see the charge show up on my phone bill. I plan to keep doing it. Everyone always complains that there’s not a cop around when you need one… I feel like this is my way of correcting that.
About the phone number: they’re required to ask for it. I know for fact that it serves at least one purpose: validating that your number is the same as what shows up on their screen (they have Uber-Caller ID). Other purposes include looking up your call history, etc. A former coworker of mine was, at one point, a 911 operator, and clued me in on a lot of stuff. Oh, and they will call you back – in fact, they’re required to – if you are cut off. I’ve dialed 911 by mistake before (my phone had a feature that would dial 911 if you held down 9, and I didn’t know it - I was trying to puzzle out the speed-dial system); as soon as I saw 911 pop on the screen I frantically hit the Big Red Button to disconnect. It did. Less than a minute later I got a call from the 911 operator, asking if there was an emergency. Oops.
A huge hose fell off a truck today and lay sprawled completely across one lane and partly into
another. I was going to stop but two other guys (one of which have been the original offender)
pulled off to get it out of the way.
Southwest FLA. You may notice that the pics were taken from inside my car. Sort of dumb considering I then drove to a hiking trail where I walked within yards of the damn things.
