CB Radios Are Essential If There's No Cell Service In Emergencies

Above, a CB radio is essential if there's no cell service in the desert. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A couple on an RV trip got lost in the Nevada desert. Searchers searched for days and finally they were found.

The husband died and his wife is now recovering after being found. 

According to RV Travel:

Earlier this week we wrote about RVers Ronnie and Bev Barker. The Indiana couple went missing, along with their motorhome, on a trip from Oregon to Arizona. As we posted, the couple were lost and stranded in the desert hills of Nevada. Since that initial post, more details have come into focus regarding the Barker’s tragic final trip together. Now it seems the couple’s GPS is taking some of the blame for the tragic outcome.

“SOS”

When searchers found the Barker’s motorhome on Tuesday, April 6, it was abandoned, stuck in the sand on a desert road. The family’s toad car, a Kia, was gone, presumably used by the couple after the motorhome got stuck. Searchers then worked on following the intermittent tracks left on the dusty roadway. After a couple of hours, they heard a car horn. It was signaling out “SOS.” The Barkers were found.

Beverly Barker was sitting in the front seat of the Kia, following some of the last instructions her husband, Ronnie, had given. With their cell phones out of range, he had told her to keep tooting the horn. Three short, three long, three short. Repeat.

While the media is focusing on the GPS, another aspect in the tragedy caught my attention. There was no cell phone service in the area where their motorhome got stuck. Had there been cell phone service in the area, they could both have been saved.

This also leads me to something else. Since there was no cell service, if they had a citizens band (CB) radio in their RV, they could have transmitted a call for help. It has not been reported if they had one or not.

When I bought my motorhome in 2015, one of the first things I bought for it was a handheld CB radio. Even though cell phones are widely used today, there are still areas where there is no coverage. With that in mind, that's why I bought my CB. A CB radio becomes essential in emergencies such as what the Barkers were faced with.

To read the full article, go here.

CB Radios and the California "Hands-Free" Law

Above, a Cobra HH Roadtrip hand-held CB radio.

Recently, I purchased a handheld CB radio (pictured above) for use in the motorhome while on trips. The purpose of the radio is to monitor road conditions, weather reports and just entertainment (listening to the chatter by other motorists).

California enacted a "hand-free" law that mandates that cell phone usage must be hand-free (using Bluetooth or other devices while using a cell phone while driving).

This questions occurred to me: Does the "hands-free" law also apply to CB radio use?

According to the California Vehicle Code, it does not.

Here's the California Vehicle Code section on cell phone use:

23123. 

(a) A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.
(b) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a base fine of twenty dollars ($20) for a first offense and fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense.
(c) This section does not apply to a person using a wireless telephone for emergency purposes, including, but not limited to, an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department, or other emergency services agency or entity.
(d) This section does not apply to an emergency services professional using a wireless telephone while operating an authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in Section 165, in the course and scope of his or her duties.
(e) This section does not apply to a person driving a schoolbus or transit vehicle that is subject to Section 23125.
(f) This section does not apply to a person while driving a motor vehicle on private property.
(g) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2011.

To further buttress the point, the California Highway Patrol said this in response to a query:

 "After doing some research, and reviewing sections 23123 (a): (Hand-Held Wireless Telephone), and 23123.5(a): (Electronic Wireless Communications Device), of the California Vehicle code, I was unable to locate anything within those sections that would require the use of an Amateur Radio device to be hands free. The above referenced sections specifically reference the use of hand-held wireless telephones and their prohibited use while operating a motor vehicle.  

If a Law Enforcement Officer in reference to the above section, observes a driver operating a motor vehicle in an unsafe manner while utilizing an Amateur Radio device, the driver may be stopped and issued a citation in accordance with 22350 CVC."

In an nutshell, non-hand-free cell phone use is not okay, non-hands-free CB radio use is okay in California. Just do it safely.  

Passings of Note

There are two recent passings of note:

Richard Gordon, Producer




The Los Angeles Times reported:

Richard Gordon, a B-moviemaker whose credits as a producer and executive producer of science fiction and horror films included "Fiend Without a Face" and "The Haunted Strangler," has died. He was 85.

The British-born Gordon died Tuesday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. He had been hospitalized in recent months for heart problems, said Tom Weaver, a friend.

Andy Rooney, Commentator


Andy Rooney, who was a mainstay of CBS's 60 Minutes, passed away at age 92 last night in New York. His death came hardly a month after delivering his last commentary on 60 Minutes.