Walkie Talkies?

[VX5195]

I was looking into getting a set of two/three walkie talkies to use between cars, is it legal to use them whilst driving?

If so, what walkie talkies do people recommend? I don't want to spend a fortune (less than £50) and long range isn't an issue (say roughly a mile or two range should suffice)

Thanks in advance

[r11co]

Leftfield suggestion here, but I bought a pair of Cobra MT 600 PMR walkie talkies for my daughter and her pals to use when they are playing around the neighbourhood and they are pretty impressive.

Small, sturdy, excellent range and amazing battery life. I've since found out that they are the device of choice for motorbike training schools and can be used hands-free with VOX control and headsets.

Got them for less than £30 for a pair.

[Dog Star]

Maplin and Decathlon have an excellent selection of these; I use them for skiing and they're excellent. Just about all of them support headsets and vox.

[vtecyo]

My friend and I used them a few years ago when were were hooning around, well within the speed limit in 2 matching black mr2 turbos. Clipped mine to the steering wheel.

Great fun.

[andrewrob]

Pretty sure they are legal to use handheld, its tied in with the radio and telecommunications act. Obviously if you start swerving all over the place when using them you can still be prosecuted.

[bruschetta]

I have had some Binatone Terrain 750 (£40 from amazon) for 2 years and they have been very reliable with a good range and battery life. Lots of available channels, so when you take them on holiday you can find a channel not taken by the neighbouring hotel cleaners!

[Matttracker]

I bought a cheap set of x4 for £40 they went about 300m if I remember when I used to to work at Budweiser.
We'd have to drive 4 minis to events everyday at various student unions across the country. The wallow talkies were brilliant fun

There's a smokey on my tail snowman come back!!

[VX5195]

Cheers for all your help! I will be getting a set soon

[gtidriver]

Breaker-Breaker 1-9 for a coffee. Is that a bear in the air?

[PurpleTurtle]

bruschetta said:

I have had some Binatone Terrain 750 (£40 from amazon) for 2 years and they have been very reliable with a good range and battery life. Lots of available channels, so when you take them on holiday you can find a channel not taken by the neighbouring hotel cleaners!

I bought some £££ Motorola's for skiing, a pal bought some cheapo Binatones at the same time.
I scoffed at his, on the back of Binatone making woeful 80's midi-systems punted out by Argos.
No prizes for guessing which ones are in fact excellent, and which expensive folly have a woeful battery life making me no longer bother with them.

[jhfozzy]

andrewrob said:

Pretty sure they are legal to use handheld, its tied in with the radio and telecommunications act. Obviously if you start swerving all over the place when using them you can still be prosecuted.

Yep, simplex (push to talk) comms are legal to use whilst driving, however as mentioned if it affects your driving standards you might get done. I use them on long journeys with others, they break up the boredom of the journey and can be used to warn of dangers ahead.

From ROSPA's website HERE

ROSPA said:

The Definition of a Hand-Held Mobile Phone

The Regulation includes any "device, other than a two-way radio, which performs an interactive communication function by transmitting and receiving data".

It states that a "mobile telephone or other device is to be treated as hand-held if it is, or must be, held at some point during the course of making or receiving a call or performing any other interactive communication function". "interactive communication function" includes:

sending or receiving oral or written messages;
sending or receiving facsimile documents;
sending or receiving still or moving images; and
providing access to the internet

There are two exemptions:

2- way "press to talk" radios, such as used by the emergency services and taxi drivers
Using a hand-held phone for a genuine emergency call to 999 or 112 if it would be unsafe for the driver to stop.