Boxing Day shoppers call 911 for traffic

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BURNABY, British Columbia, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Police in Canada said they received a flood of 911 calls from motorists angry about being stuck in Boxing Day traffic.

Staff Sgt. Robert Marks of the Burnaby, British Columbia, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said there were so many 911 calls Wednesday from drivers upset about the traffic on the traditional shopping and gift-returning holiday that authorities lost count, The Vancouver Sun reported Thursday.

"Obviously, people on Boxing Day are out returning things and doing their shopping. It's the traffic and people not being able to exit parking lots at the mall that's causing this. So it's kind of an unusual call to get as far as 911 calls are concerned," Marks said.

Burnaby RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve Crawford posted a request Wednesday afternoon on the department's official Twitter account, @BurnabyRCMP, for drivers to stop calling 911 to complain about the traffic.

"You can imagine that when you do receive those 911 calls, they tie up the lines and prevent people from what could be legitimate 911 calls," Marks said. "There's only a limited number of lines."