Did You Know Most Hotels and Motels in the U S do not allow Direct Access to 911?

I heard this on the news this morning and I was not aware of this.  It just escapes me as to why they would even set up these systems this way.  Sadly it took a woman's death to bring this to light and to get something done about it.  My niece is on a band trip out of state and I hope the people over seeing the trip are aware of how the hotel they are staying at handles 911 calls.

From the article.

"DALLAS — Tens of thousands of hotels don't allow guests to directly reach emergency services when they dial 911, according to a national survey taken after a 9-year-old girl couldn't call for help while her mother was being stabbed to death in a Texas motel.

The 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 be required to enable the direct dialing of 911. 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 can lead to panic and confusion in an emergency."

Full article here.