GoDaddy CEO Warren Adelman, Personal Blog: Cellphone to the Rescue?

A Social Contract
Ramblings on the collision of technology and human nature

Cellphone to the Rescue?

One of my colleagues shared this story with me tonight from a news station in Orem, Utah:

Automatic car features are supposed to make life easier for motorists, but they may be leaving some people without the know-how to do things the old-fashioned way. That’s what happened to a driver in Utah County who became trapped inside her own car.

A woman called Orem police Friday afternoon needing help because her battery died and she was locked inside her car.

When police arrived, they found the woman sitting in the car, unable to get herself out. She couldn’t hear the officers instructions through the rolled-up windows so she motioned to them to call her on her cell phone, according to police.

Once officers were able to talk to the woman on the phone, they were able to tell her how to manually operate the slide lock mechanism on the inside door panel to open the door and free herself.

“I'm just glad she had a cell phone to call for help,” an officer said.

Should she really be behind the wheel of a car? Should they charge her for the rescue? Notice her name does not appear in the story.

All in all, not quite as dramatic as the soldier who called in artillery support via a collect, long distance call during Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada.