I watched a documentary on 70s tech which made the claim that CB radio was originally the venue of truck drivers and then became popular amongst regular drivers until the outset of cell phones at which point it became the venue once again of truck drivers. But now cellphone talking while driving has become widespread a crime. Has CB been included in this legislation? Surely CBing is as “distracting” as using a cell phone. Has CB been similarly illegalized? Has there been a truck driver uprising?
I don’t know about CB but where I live, ham radio ops are exempt from the ban on using hand held devices while driving. I don’t think it means I can use my cell phone but I am allowed to talk on a mobile radio. (if I had one)
CB users were a small portion of the total driver population. It never was as popular as you seem to think. Most people just listened to the CB radio and didn’t operate one. CB radios were public so most users didn’t form a habit of yacking on it about every thought they had. Everybody couldn’t use a CB like they do cellphones, because the channels would have been saturated with competing transmissions. Think of CB use as a group of people having to wait for the last person to stop talking before they have the opportunity to speak. Think of picking up everybody’s transmission from 15 to 30 miles from you that is spread over a couple dozen channels and how it limits your talk time or makes it impossible to understand anything. The CB user was not trying to read messages and type while driving. The driver vehicle traffic wasn’t what it is today over most of our roads.
I used a CB for a few years while commuting or on long trips. I think 15-30 miles is on the long end of the (legal) range. The people you can talk to are limited to the people in a relatively short range (vs. unlimited for cell phones), which is both the strength and weakness of CB radios. You can get real-time reports on traffic ahead, enforcement, etc., but can rarely contact a specific individual.
I think the Teamsters would argue that banning CB use while driving would cause an increase in shipping costs and increased accidents.
there is a a difference between that CB use and cell phone; professional drivers vs the general public. not really. there have been cases of truck and bus drivers using cell phones having crashes.
i think it is the level of engagement involved.
CB is about 5 mile range, mostly random talk to strangers about what brand radio, your cargo (if a truck), your destination and the color of your upholstery. light engagement due to that and the slowness of 2 way radio.
cell phones is purposeful talk. it’s your office on wheels. you are talking making plans, conducting complex business, making schedules, repeating conversations from work or school.
CB was also simple control of twisting a few knobs which could be done by feel. cell phones need to look at a screen and operate small buttons to use. as an aside; people should know their auto controls by touch, it’s safer. curse those auto makers that are making visual controls just because they have new technology.
texting is a hazard beyond all this, as is ebook, computer and pda use. similar hazards are paper book reading, applying makeup and grooming. eating is also a hazard, few are disciplined enough to not go after that fallen bit of food or to wipe a salsa spill on your clothes.
impaired and distracted driving for any reason is illegal. specifically identifying cell phone use is because the evidence supports it, not just fender benders but cars going into oncoming traffic across divided highways at full speed with multicar fatalities.
shiney side up.
With a CB, you are not truly a part of a conversation the way you are with a phone. Each time you finish what you say, you release the com key and then wait for a reply. As such, I don’t think you get immersed and destracted like with a cell phone.
I would think professional drivers have a lot to do with it.
I see bus drivers on Chicago’s CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) talking on hands free cellphone quite a lot. There’s no increase in accidents.
They’re probably not supposed to be doing it, but I do see them with those hands free phones with the mouthpiece that dangles from the wire.
Not some of the rigs that truckers and serious CB hobbyists use. Many have more elaborate radios with single sideband, and added functions that bring several extra knobs to the front panel. CBers in North America like the looks of their radios to be old-school, so most rigs sold here resemble those of the 1970s, with rows of identical-sized knobs and switches against a metallic background.
A lot of ham radio operators are whacker types, with two or more mobile rigs and a scanner in the car; they’re not just operating simple two meter radios.
That’s not to say I’m an advocate of banning mobile two-way gear. There’s far fewer users of CB radios and mobile ham equipment than cell phones, which is one reason why is probably hasn’t been restricted to the extent of cell phones.
California’s cell phone law prohibits the use of a wireless telephones while driving.
CB radios (and amateur radios, and commercial two-way radios) are not wireless telephones.