Letter to the Editor, Metropulse

I was curious if anyone else in Knoxville has had any trouble getting a response from calling 911. I was unfortunately involved in an automobile accident on Saturday, Feb. 7, and had occasion to call 911 from my mobile phone. Myself, my wife, and two-week old son were sideswiped while waiting at the West Hills exit off I-40 eastbound.

No one was hurt, and the damage was minor, but it was a frightening experience because the other driver�s vehicle was still traveling at considerable speed when it scraped down the length of our car. The driver�s brakes had locked his wheels, and he was in an uncontrolled slide. His car finally stopped 20 feet in front of us. He began moving, as if he intended to drive off, so my wife jumped out of the car and flagged him down. She wrote down his insurance information while I called 911 so that an accident report could be written up. My wife, being inexperienced in the procedure for handling traffic accidents, let the other driver go after obtaining his insurance information. We continued to wait for the police to arrive.

After 45 minutes had passed, I called the police dispatcher, and the officer that answered informed me that since the other driver left at our discretion, an accident report could not be written, so we might as well be on our way, since our vehicle was still driveable. During the 45 minutes we waited, I observed several cruisers pass us by on I-40 in the leftmost lane without drama. Their emergency lights were off, and I suspect they were patrolling for speeders.

Yes, our situation was not urgent, and I wouldn�t have classified it as an emergency. Is that justification for the police to ignore our 911 call? The 911 operator asked for my mobile phone number, and I provided it to her. Is it commonplace for 911 calls to go unchecked or unanswered? I would think that if they didn�t have the resources to respond, that someone could call and inform us. Why else would they ask for my number? We sat for 45 minutes with our hazard signals flashing wondering if any of the passing cruisers noticed we were blocking a high-traffic highway exit.

My first call to 911 didn�t inspire much confidence in local law enforcement. The next time I call 911, will anyone come?

Adrian Sanabria
Knoxville