WHO?
SAFE is a
governmental entity, created by state legislation, responsible for purchasing, installing,
operating, and maintaining a motorist aid system of call boxes.
San Diego SAFE
is governed by a seven-member Board of
Directors whose members are appointed by the County Board of Supervisors and the
eighteen cities within the county.
SAFE contracts
with TeleTran Tek Services for its
staffing requirements.
The SAFE board
holds a bimonthly public meeting at 2:00 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month from
January through November. The Meeting is held in Room 303 or 358 of the County
Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego. Suggestions and comments from the
public are always welcomed.
WHAT?
SAFE operates and maintains a system of freeway and rural
stateway highway call boxes. It forms a network of cellular telephones, designed
especially to link the County's more than 280 miles of freeways and 255 of rural state
highways to the California Highway Patrol (CHP). For motorists in distress from automobile
failure or other roadside emergencies, assistance is available from police, fire,
ambulance, towing, and other service personnel or even from a family member or friend.
Motorists simply raise the handset of a call box and press the red "call"
button. The telephone connects the motorist directly to a trained dispatcher, who ensures
that the appropriate roadside services are made available to stranded motorists.
WHEN AND WHERE?
The state legislation, which authorized formation of county
SAFEs, went into effect on January 1, 1986. San Diego County was the first to respond to
this legislation, forming California's first SAFE on January 31, 1986.
San Diego SAFE completed its first phase on February 27, 1989, with the
installation of 999 call boxes along major freeways in the county. In March of 1990,
another 172 call boxes were installed along Interstate 8 going east to about 8 miles short
of the Imperial County line. In November of 1990, 77 call boxes were installed at selected
freeway transition ramp locations, as well as 21 Caltrans Park and Ride lots. There are
noe 1,655 call boxes on San Diego freeways and rural state highways. This includes 255
rural boxes installed ni December 1994 on state routes 67, 75, 76, 78, 79, and 188.
Call boxes are installed every half mile on each side of the freeways
and approximately every mile, on one side of the road, on state highways. Gaps may exist
on rural roads where cell signal or a safe pull-off could not be located.
SAFE call boxes make between 160,000 and 170,000 calls per year,
an average of over 3,000 calls per week. This represents an average of one call for help
every three minutes of the day and night. Click here for more detail.
HOW?
The call boxes are self-contained telephones that combine
state-of-the-art cellular technology with microchip computer technology. Among the unique
features are:
Solar powered, cellular operation
direct voice communication with CHP
Dispatch Center
automatic call box location to CHP
dispatcher
automatic maintenance chek-in and
alarms
tilt and anti-tampering alarms
99.97% reliability of system
electronics
The operation of this system is made
possible by a $1.00 yearly fee on vehicle registrations in San Diego County assessed
through the Department of Motor Vehicles. SAFE staff works closely with Caltrans
concerning the siting and installation plans for new call boxes, and with CHP on efficient
response to call box calls.
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