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Source: NZPA / Ross Setford -
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It is not long now until the new cellphone laws take effect banning people from using phones while driving as the road rule changes come into force on Saturday night.
It is not just car drivers who are banned from talking on hand held cellphones from Sunday as the ban extends to truckies too, and this could mean the airwaves will soon be crackling with the sound of citizen band (CB) radios.
With it's colourful call signs and catchphrases CB radio became popular in the 70s as truckies used it to warn each other of police, road hazards, or just for company.
John Herbert from Peter Baker Transport (PBT) says some truckies still have their CB radios.
"Some of the more traditional line-haul drivers still have their citizen band radios and still have their chats at night and I think some of those old calls signs are still in play," he says.
With the cellphone ban more of those radio sets may soon be dusted off.
At transport companies like PBT in Wellington dispatchers already talk to drivers by CB's baby brother the radio telephone (RT).
Under the law change truckies can still use the RT while driving but many firms also use a message system, similar to texting, that they will have to pull over to use.
"The big players in the industry have all moved towards the new technology, certainly text-based communication is important because it gives more detail," Herbert says.
It may be lacking the romance of the road but it is certainly safer than cellphones.
