An IU bus’s digital destination sign displayed a message asking for emergency help Feb. 22, which caused onlookers to call 911. The button that controls the sign was accidentally pressed.
Lydia Evans, who posted on Facebook she was the driver of this bus, wrote the button was hit accidentally. She said there is nothing inside the bus to let the driver know the sign has changed to the emergency message so if a potential criminal caused the emergency, they wouldn't know police were called.
IU Police Department Capt. Craig Munroe said IUPD received a lot of calls that day and stopped the bus in the athletic lot to make sure everyone was fine. He said the button can be triggered on accident.
“Just like anything else like panic buttons and fire alarms, those things get tripped accidentally," he said. "When those things happen, we get a chance to respond and people get a chance to remember it's there.”
He said the button that triggers this signal is supposed to be used when people on the bus cannot call 911 for some reason, such as during a hijacking situation.
The bus drivers’ radios can contact IUPD dispatch, Munroe said, so if an emergency happens on the bus, the driver could easily communicate with police for help.
Munroe said he does not think there has ever been an event when this distress announcement has had to be used in a real emergency situation.
“It's there just in case,” Munroe said.
