conveying location to authorities

Sometimes this done as they split jurisdictions by intersecting roads at the exits. But the dispatcher should have been able to find the exit number, based on your direction of travel and mile stick..... as they both correspond.

 

Isn't the exit # the same as mile markers??

Geeze....

And your cell phone has GPS now just for 911 calls...

I'm thinkin they wanted more info to determine that you were not a crank caller.

 

Mile post and exit numbers are not the same everywhere. California is just getting started with that system, and New York numbers exits in numerical order. I-87 exit 40 is at MP 161. Just 2 examples there may be others.

 

With many states and highways, the exit and mile markers are the same. However there are several states and highways that the MM and exit numbers do not correspond. Toll roads are the worst for this stupidity.

I have made calls before and the MM was good for location. The 911 operator should be able to work with what they are given. I'll bet the first responders are as good at using MM as addresses.

 

Dispatchers for emergency services are only as good as how much they are paid. I've talked to some I'll bet they can't walk and chew gum. I was actually told by a local dispatcher the road I was on did not exist, it was a US highway!! I then asked to talk to his supervisor. Sad but true.

 

That is exactly what I was saying too. The dispatcher may not have a clue but if he would relay the information to the first responders they know what to do with it.

They are out there every day just like us. That dispatcher may have never been outside the city limits.

I was lost in the Broncs once. I stopped a taxi driver and ask how to get out of there. He told me he had never been out of there.

 

Not all roads have mile markers also. I called in a dangerous driver once and the dreaded gps was actually a great help in giving location.