Car Phone Plan for Disabled May Expand
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A program to provide disabled Ventura County residents with free car phones for emergencies may soon be expanded.
The Ventura County Transportation Commission today will decide whether to buy 100 new cellular telephones to distribute to disabled residents who drive.
About 200 disabled residents are currently using the telephones, made available since the program began in March. The county provides the phones for 911 service free of charge. Customers who want additional phone services have to pay for them.
The phones, which cost $275 each, are funded by the Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies. The authority, which is funded by a $1 surcharge on all vehicle registrations, also pays for roadside call boxes.
Advocates for the disabled support issuing the phones, saying they are safer and easier than renovating call box areas along freeway stretches that are steep or have narrow shoulders.
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