Roadside Call Boxes Disappear as Wireless Phone Use Increases

From CTIA newswire: "Roadside call boxes that at one time helped stranded drivers call for assistance are slowly disappearing as wireless phone use increases. Rhode Island disposed of its 284 call boxes in 2004 while Pennsylvania removed 102 call boxes. Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Louisiana are also considering scrapping them due to drivers dependence on their wireless phones for safety and the high costs involved in maintaining the boxes. (Source: USA Today)"

As a particular technology offers cheaper ways for providing a similar service, companies and governments naturally make decisions that limit the use of older technology. In this case its often useful to consider just who it is that is most likely to use the new technology and who will be affected by the demise of the old technology most? In this case, I suspect that the older generation of drivers and the poor class of drivers will be less likely to carry a cell phone with them in case of emergency. It can be argued that many other drivers around them will have a cell phone, but the crucial question is: who will stop to help? As call boxes disappear, there is a subgroup of drivers that will naturally be negatively affected. Luckily, accidents are not nearly as common as they may seem and its the younger people with faster cars and lack of fear that are more likely to be in a situation needing to call for help. Still... Considering that large proportions of Pennsylvania are populated with older populations, I wonder how this kind of reasoning went.