Majority of US hotels have no direct '911 dialing'

In what comes as an unnerving revelation for travelers, a latest US survey has found that tens of thousands of hotels don't allow guests to directly dial 911 and call for emergency services.

This comes after a nine-year-old girl couldn't call for help while her mother was being stabbed to death in a Texas motel sparking online petition.

According to news.com.au, killing of Kari Hunt Dunn in an East Texas hotel room spurred a petition that has garnered more than 440,000 signatures demanding hotels and motels to enable the direct dialing of US emergency number 911.

The survey conducted by American Hotel and Lodging Association revealed that only 45 percent of franchised hotels and motels and 32 percent of independent hotels have direct 911 dialing.

Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai said that the statistics were alarming and showed that the telephone systems at tens of thousands of lodging properties across the US could fail Americans when it counts.

The report said that many hotels require callers to dial '9' before 911 or have some other system, such as calling first to the front desk, which advocates say could lead to panic and confusion in an emergency.

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Number Association, a group representing 911 call takers and industry professionals, said that it stands ready to work with Congress, the FCC and all the stakeholders in drafting and implementing new policies to fix the issue, the report added.