# 77 feature on your cell phone
Got this in an email from my cousin Jeanne today. Not sure if this works but would be good for the ladies to look into it for their own good.
Subject: #77 Feature on Your Cell Phone
>
> I felt this was worth sharing with everyone! Keep
safe!!!
> This is worth a good read to all my friends stay
safe.
>
> I never even knew about this #77 feature!
>
> This actually happened to one of my dearest new
friend's daughter. Her
> daughter, Lauren, is 19 yrs old and a sophomore in
college. This happened
> to her over the Christmas/New Year's holiday break.
It was the Saturday
> before New Year's and it was about 1 PM in the
afternoon. Lauren was
> driving from here, Winchester, to visit a friend in
Warrenton. For those
> of you who are familiar with the area, she was
taking 50 East towards
> Middleburg and then was going to cut over to 66 via
17.55 mph. Those of
> you who aren't familiar with this area - 50 East is
a main road (and two
> lanes each side with a big median separating East
and West lanes), but is
> somewhat secluded, meaning mostly residents along
the road, rather than
> commercial businesses. Lauren was actually
following behind a state
> police car shortly after she left Winchester and was
going just over 65
> mph since she was following behind him.
>
> An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her and put
his lights on. My
> friend and her husband have 4 children (high school
and college age) and
> have always told them never to pull over for an
unmarked car on the side
> of the road, but rather wait until they get to a gas
station, etc. So
> Lauren had actually listened to her parents advice,
and promptly called
> #77 on her cell phone to tell the dispatcher that
she would not pull over
> right away. She proceeded to tell the dispatcher
that there were 2 police
> cars, one unmarked behind her and one marked in
front of her. The
> dispatcher checked if there were 2 police cars where
she was. There
> wasn't and she was connected to the policeman in
front of her and he told
> her to keep driving, remain calm and that he had
back-up already on the
> way. Ten minutes later 4 cop cars surrounded her
and the unmarked car
> behind her. One policeman went to her side and the
others surrounded the
> car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and
tackled him to the
> ground..........the man was a convicted rapist and
wanted for other
> crimes.
>
> Thank God Lauren listened to her parents! She was
shaken up, but fine. I
> never knew that bit of advice, but especially for a
woman alone in a car,
> you should not pull over for an unmarked car in a
secluded area. In fact,
> even a marked car after dark should follow you to a
populated area.
>
> Apparently police have to respect your right to keep
going to a"safe"
> place. You obviously need to make some signals that
you acknowledge them
> (i.e., put on your hazard lights) or call #77 like
Lauren did. I am so
> thankful that my friend was just sitting at our book
club meeting telling
> us this scary story, rather than us at her house
consoling her!
>
> Be safe and pass this on to your friends. Awareness
is everything.
Reality Check: State by State...
Lauren was obviously one clever young woman. One word of caution, however:
Cellular emergency numbers differ from state to state and, in some cases, even from highway to highway. When you enter a highway, there will often be signs advising what the emergency number is for that particular area.
In other words, #77 only works in a few areas. In others it might be #11, or it might be a letter abbreviation for the state police. If in doubt, wherever you are, 9-1-1 will usually (but nt necessarily always) work.
