Rest In Peace CB Radio

My brother was a lifelong trucker from His first job in youth on. Best driver I ever knew. He hated CB because of the foul language. But He would not drive without one. Turned it off in cities when parked or at Truck Stops, otherwise on at low volume with squelch set. He listened to books on tape mainly with just enough volume on the CB for warnings. One winter on I-80 IIRC in Wyoming He was going eastbound, nearing the top of a hill doing 75. Road clear and dry for hours, smooth safe pavement. As He approached the top He heard a yell from the CB "Oh my God they just crossed the center line!". So He instantly backed it down to 40 (no, there was no one behind Him for a long ways He was too good for that and in a split second He looked in the mirrors before hitting the brakes). As He topped the hill (which sloped down a quarter mile then flat for miles) a carload of family, kids and all, passed in front of Him as they went into the ditch on His right.

He said had He been going 5 MPH faster than 40 it would have been His 18 wheeler head on into the car. They crossed less than a hundred feet in front of him on their way into the ditch on His right. Not only that, the road was a sheet of Ice and snow for miles going east. In fact the road condition going east was so bad, after helping with the family (who ended up in the ditch turned over), He had to chain up. One thing He always said was chains are not for getting your load to it's destination. They are for getting you to a safe warm place to wait for roadwork to make things safer. Had the warning not come He would have crested the hill immediately hitting ice and snow over the crest even if the car had not been out of control. It was the car heading west too fast for the conditions which sent them sailing over the median into oncoming traffic and off to wreck on the south side of the eastbound lanes.

One thing you should conclude from this is even if like my brother you hate the way they talk on CB as a professional driver CB is not only a useful tool, it is also often a life saving asset. I used to be one of those who monitored 9 in the days people were involved in React. I guess it died in the 80's you never see much today about it. Or at least I have not. I don't think people even monitor 9 anymore it's just overloaded Mexican skip today. But back in the day I don't even remember how many emergency calls I made from my base to authorities bringing help when it was needed to travelers on the road. I wonder what the statistics really are, how many lives were saved over decades by citizens using their CB radios. I am positive it is a very large number.

 

There used to be the whole movie of "Citizens Band Handle With care" on youtube....but I managed to find one clip...the part where they track down a blabbermouth via a fox hunt and then smash his radio to pieces. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f07cWSkfTE

 

That's a cool movie, I get a kick out of the priest who is as CB'er.

 

I remember the "CB Breaks" they used to set up every holiday around here where anybody could stop and get free coffee. Ran them 24 hours through the holiday weekends.

 

My radio stays on unless i'm parked for the night......Guess i'm an old guy!.....lol!
I still enjoy it when you get hooked up running with a couple other trucks at night and they will actually hold a conversation.
Or stuck in a back up can get fun on the radio at times.

 

I had a 30 minute conversation with a guy in the UP of MI yesterday. Little easier when you're in the wilderness.


Joe

 

Yep,Yesterday afternoon skip was working for me too.
I was in Dover DE. talking to South Florida.

 

Oh mine wasn't skip I was in the UP too. Just not many trucks up there.


Joe

 

I've only been here in NC four years, but any time I'm heading out of town (I-40 crosses I-77 in the middle of town) my CB is always on in my 4-wheeler, even tough the RF gain is backed off when the skip is running. Twice now I've heard drivers talking about something that's just occurred right where I was, and I was able to pull to the shoulder and get up to the scene before the official red & blue lights did. I'm a retired paramedic-firefighter from another state, and the car is always equipped with a modicum of gear. Both times involved multiple injuries, and I was able to triage the injured and use my <ahem> VHF gear to alert the approaching EMS crews what they had. The County comms guys already are used to me fixing lots of the public safety gear, so they assigned me a call sign to use for stuff like that, so I don't have to call and say, "E-comm, <radio tech name> here, I'm at...." and they know who I am. Less confusing for the responders, too.
Had it not been for the CB being on, I would have been just another car stuck in the parking lot on the freeway.
So I don't really use the CB much to yack on, but it's *always* on, even if it's "numbed down" so I only really hear the locals. I think it still has its place on the highway.
Humbly submitted,
Handlebar