# CB Radio vs. Cellphones -- death by talking

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cb-radio-vs-cellphones-death-by-talking/688996>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 22, 2014, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cb-radio-vs-cellphones-death-by-talking/688996 "2014-05-22T09:23:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cb-radio-vs-cellphones-death-by-talking/688996/21 "2014-05-23T13:03:44Z")

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I don’t think it is quite accurate to call what it happening on the roads a bloodbath relative to what it used to me. Fatalities per mile traveled are about one third of what they were in 1980. Much of this has to do with increased safety features in cars and advances in emergency medicine. The number of accidents per mile driven is not readily available so there is no way of knowing if traffic accidents have gone up or down. But since injuries in traffic accidents per mile traveled have been cut in half over the last 25 years, it would seem intuitive that accidents have gone down some too.

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cb-radio-vs-cellphones-death-by-talking/688996/22 "2014-05-23T13:31:11Z")

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> [@puddleglum](#):
>
> I don’t think it is quite accurate to call what it happening on the roads a bloodbath relative to what it used to me. Fatalities per mile traveled are about one third of what they were in 1980. Much of this has to do with increased safety features in cars and advances in emergency medicine. The number of accidents per mile driven is not readily available so there is no way of knowing if traffic accidents have gone up or down. But since injuries in traffic accidents per mile traveled have been cut in half over the last 25 years, it would seem intuitive that accidents have gone down some too.

Exactly. AFAIK, there’s little to no empirical evidence linking cellphone use to increased accidents, injuries, or fatalities, so this whole conversation about comparative safety seems a bit wrong-headed.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cb-radio-vs-cellphones-death-by-talking/688996/23 "2014-05-24T02:43:47Z")

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then things would be much better if the new cause of distraction were eliminated.

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**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cb-radio-vs-cellphones-death-by-talking/688996/24 "2014-05-24T03:27:17Z")

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> [@Mops](#):
>
> Also was part of the CB craze as a kid in the 1970s.

Now you have me trying to imagine German [trucker slang](http://www.truckercountry.com/cb-terminology.html) in the style of [Smokey and the Bandit](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076729/?ref_=nv_sr_1) :).

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**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cb-radio-vs-cellphones-death-by-talking/688996/25 "2014-05-24T06:49:37Z")

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CB’s are still a good way to get local information like if a roadstop cafe is good or not.

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**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cb-radio-vs-cellphones-death-by-talking/688996/26 "2014-05-24T12:16:13Z")

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> [@minor7flat5](#):
>
> Now you have me trying to imagine German [trucker slang](http://www.truckercountry.com/cb-terminology.html) in the style of [Smokey and the Bandit](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076729/?ref_=nv_sr_1) :).

Related: [Truck Stop](http://www.truck-stop.de/), the #1 best selling German country-western band of all time!

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