We just scrimped to buy our college son, DJ, a 93 Ford Taurus, it is 485 miles from here in Atlanta to Lynchburg, Virginia. I’ve made the trip myself bunches of times with no problems, but I’M the mom, and I’m worried about him out on the road.
I thought I remembered hearing about cell phones that were ONLY for emergency use, but I can’t seem to find one. CB’s were popular when I was young, a million years ago, and they are handheld now, rather than having to be attached to the car. Any one with experience? Or even just an opinion, over which idea seems more feasible would be welcome.
I have until the week of March 12-17, he’s coming home for spring break (yay! which is when he goes back to school with his ‘new’ car and whichever device I come up with so he isn’t stranded somewhere.
Thanks ahead of time,
Judy, (aka ‘nervous mom’)
“It’s hard to avoid reading because ever wheres we go, reading is there.”
if you don’t activate your cell phone, you can still use it for calling 911 (also 800 #'s) as far as a CB, i would recomend them to anyone going on a road trip. those truckers can be realy helpful. they tell you when there are wrecks up ahead, or if there are any speed traps. invaluable.
Awhile back my local AAA office had an offer for an emergency use cell phone. You could call 911 or the 1-800 for AAA. I have used the handheld cb’s and wasnt pleased with it the range was about 2 cars and the reception was poor at best. But there could be better models out there. We had a mid range priced one.
A possibly cheaper way would be to buy pre-paid cellular. You usually have to buy a phone, and X number of minutes that expire in a year or so. But this gives you the freedom to call non-emergency numbers (like home) and emergency numbers. I know Cellular One has this program, and am pretty sure GTE does. Check around. As to the CB’s, they can be useful (I managed to get a trucker to contact the State Troopers when we were in an area where cell phones didn’t work) but the handheld ones do not have much range.
“You can be smart or pleasant. For years I was smart.
I recommend pleasant.”
Elwood P. Dowd
eggo, DJ was thrilled tonight when I told him what I was thinking about doing, I think he liked both ideas! When I went looking on Saturday, though, there were so many different CB’s that it was a bit intimidating as to which were more powerful, unless the most expensive, you could assume was ‘best’.Any ideas there??
PUNdit: I had worried about the range, in regard to the hand held CB’s (and I didn’t want to get the huge antenna) since DJ travels the two states in between Georgia and Virginia. I like the idea of the pre-paid cellular phone, just because Deejie’s penchant for calling. I’d like to keep a lid on it, if that’s possible!
Lucy, I also liked the triple A idea, I may give that a try and see if they have a website before I get off line tonight, thanks!!
Judy
“It’s hard to avoid reading because ever wheres we go, reading is there.”
I went to college in Los Angeles, and my parents spent their retirement in Lake Havasu City – Dad retiring as soon as I graduated from high school. They bought me a car that first Christmas, but Mom had the same worries you have about me driving back and forth, particularly since there’s a lot of “nuthin’” between here and there (and twenty years ago there was even MORE “nuthin’” than there is now). There’s a lot of desert and lot of lonely road.
They bought me a CB, cellphones not being an option back then. I had a lot of fun with it. It was installed into the car, and had a decent range. I used to drive cross-country a lot, between LA and Western New York, and it not only provided some peace of mind but also some entertainment value, as I could listen to and converse with other drivers on the road. It was helpful if I needed some advice about an area I was coming up to, too. I remember driving between Tucson, Arizona and El Paso, Texas one day, staying with a couple of truckers the whole way, and having a blast. I stopped and had a picnic lunch with them outside El Paso, but declined their offer to drive on with them until their evening rest stop.
Melin, your post sure made me smile, especially the memory of sharing lunch with the truckers, I’m sure DJ would love that!! Did you ever have to use the CB for an emergency??
If you want to get a handheld and can affoord it, get one of the Cobra brands with the
“soundtracker” technology. It makes a difference. Also, you can increase the range
by using a magnetic mount antenna. Also, I know a few years ago, my brother had a cellphone set up for emergency use only. If he used it, it was about $0.75/min. But if
you’re broke down, who cares. good luck
I was on L.A. Cellular when I got my cell phone. Dad was in hospital and I needed to be reachable. Later it became AT&T Wireless.
I realized that I was using the cell phone abot 3 minutes a month and that it was costing be about $35/month including taxes. I’ve just changed the service (still with AT&T) so that for the same price I have 90 minutes/month including long-distance. Since all of my friends live in Washington (state), I can now use my cell to call them without a long-distance penalty.
Mostly I’ve been using the cell to report road hazards to 911, but it’s been useful when I’ve been snarled in traffic to let my co-workers know I’ll be late, and I used it when the chain on the motorcycle broke on the freeway.
I remember CBs from when I was a kid. It was similar to an internet chat room. They can be useful for finding out how the road ahead is, and there were times when I wished I had one. But I think a cell phone is more useful.
How about a cell phone for everyday use, then spend $50 or so for a CB you can keep in the trunk?
Since the OP is worried about a PARTICULAR trip line, I would offer this. Find out who has the best reception along that route. Service vary wildly. I can drive from my home ( NY State ) to Pittsburgh with less than a 30 minute total loss of signal time. My brother in law drove pretty much the same trip, and had virtually NO service. The difference? I use Bell Atlantic Mobile, he uses Sprint. I’m not pimping for Bell Atlantic here, I’m just saying that you need to find out which service happens to have the best Cellular Tower coverage along that route.
You should be able to find deals with just about every service provider that allow for a VERY small amount of calls, for a modest price per month. 15.00 a month for thirty minutes is common. This way, he's GOT a Cell Phone, but you won't pay a fortune for the peace of mind.
Flashlights, road flares, radiator fluids, first aid kit, engine oil, and 50.00 cash hidden in the car all are helpful as well. Auto Parts stores sell those nice little plastic hard cases, with room for stuff like this. ALSO- holy MOLEY- buy him one of those “Instant Tire Fixers”. Tough darts if it ruins the inside of the tire, it WORKS, and gets you back on the road, with use of your full sized tires. I’ve used them twice, both times with great success.
And, mazel tov. Hope he loves college.
Cartooniverse
If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.
Thanks for the info. The curious thing is, I DID go to see about a cell phone, and the Bell South guy told me I’d have to get it in Virginia, where DJ goes to school. Don’t these gadgets go very far?? That put me back towards the CB for that reason. I’m not sure if he didn’t know what he was talking about. I was looking for the prepaid cellular phone that PUNdit referred to, with no luck.
I’ll pass on the good wishes to DJ, he’s coming home on Friday, I’m picking him up in Chattanooga, TN, a friend is dropping him off on the friend’s way to Alabama. He’s so excited about the car, almost as much as I am NERVOUS about him driving such a long way alone!!!
Judy
PS. Cartooniverse, I LOVE your name!! My youngest son, Billy loves Cartoon Network, are ya’ll related???
“It’s hard to avoid reading because ever wheres we go, reading is there.”
This is a GTE site, you might try other site, (Cellular one didn’t seem to have anything, I didn’t try Sprint or the one Jamie Lee Curtis shills for cause I couldn’t think of it’s name. I am in no way affiliated with GTE.)
