Wildfire is correct about 2-way radios but just as an add-on. Handheld (walkie-talkies) radios DO come under the scope of the mobile phone law and as he said there is always the “catch-all” “Driving without due care and attention”
Forget 27mhz CB ( seriously poor range unless you have a burner & masive “twig” )
27mhz is also effected by Skip, fine if you want to try and chat to Mr Continental
but irritating if you want to chat to your mate 2miles on your “front-door”
and “Mr Continental” with his 1000watts is stamping all over him 
Why not obtain an Amateur Radio Foundation License,
you get 10watts of power ( more than twice CB legal power )
The exam is relatively easy,
your not expected to aquire the knoledge required to obtain a National Diploma.
Its basically , Non-Technical , Practical stuff ( like how to use an SWR bridge,
How to setup your transciever to use Repeaters, etc, etc )
Once you have the licence:
Install a cheap 2meter band FM transceiver ( cost about the same as half decent CB ),
even with a relatively short (5/8wave) antenna ( just over 1.2meters in lenght )
you get about twice the range ( mobile to mobile )of 27mhz CB.
And if you use the Repeater-Network ( Massive Range )
By massive I mean,
its not unusal to chat to someone up by j24 M1 from J8 M40 via a repeater.
here’s a coverage map, for UK 2 meter repeaters:
Enticing ■■?
here’s how:
Have fun
PS: There are lots of Ham-Radio licenced, fellow Truckers to chat to on ham bands.
if you using 2meters, by far the most popular band for Mobile work/chatting
a 1/4wave antenna on a magmount, is a very inconspicuous 500mm in lenght. 
PPS: ho yer, with your Foundation License,
your also be able to use [most] the other Ham Bands
The low-frequency one’s are not practical while mobile, but 10Meter (28 Mhz) is:
just clip about an 1cm off your existing CB antenna, and away you go 
PPpS: I hold Amateur Radio Licence G4XJC ( Gee Four Xray Jasper Carrott )
Was in the truck shop at Lymm today, couldn’t believe how cheap they were, less now brand new than they were in the 80’s.
£150 would get a really nice bit of kit. Once I stop motor sharing, I can see myself getting one.
Does anyone use channel 9 at all?
Does anyone use channel 9 at all?
Nope
Mobile phones made that redundant
Thought as much, just wondered if its monitored at all… I guess more over the pond. I think CBs should be standard kit for banter purposes.
I’ve got a CB in my 4x4 but that’s only because I belong to a 4x4 Response group, in a national emergency the first thing that’s shut down is the mobile phone system so a CB would be invaluable. I’ve always had them in my truck but as has been said, not a lot is said. I’ve got the option of AM on my set so might give it a go.
Tiger.
Tiger
Not just NATIONAL emergencies, local happenings can cause the system to go down.
A few years ago, at Lincoln Showground, a big Christian festival. The ground was sodden (and chewed up by a steam fair the previous weekend).
In the big top some of the seating collapsed. My wife and I were in our tent when the fire engines and ambulances came charging past us.
I tried to ring out to let our families know we were not involved. Mobile phone network was overloaded.
As we were in a QSO on 2 metres at the time, at least our friends in Ollerton and Sheffield knew we were OK.
The Amateur Radio service has Raynet, formed during the East Coast floods in 1953(?), found the landline system fell over in 1974 when Nypro tested the “Big Bang Theory” at Flixborough.
I know some 4x4 responder teams also use Amateur Radio
G8YMW:
Tiger
Not just NATIONAL emergencies, local happenings can cause the system to go down.
A few years ago, at Lincoln Showground, a big Christian festival. The ground was sodden (and chewed up by a steam fair the previous weekend).
In the big top some of the seating collapsed. My wife and I were in our tent when the fire engines and ambulances came charging past us.
I tried to ring out to let our families know we were not involved. Mobile phone network was overloaded.
As we were in a QSO on 2 metres at the time, at least our friends in Ollerton and Sheffield knew we were OK.The Amateur Radio service has Raynet, formed during the East Coast floods in 1953(?), found the landline system fell over in 1974 when Nypro tested the “Big Bang Theory” at Flixborough.
I know some 4x4 responder teams also use Amateur Radio
Not so lucky for some in the big top, lucky you were not there at the time. Goes to show how much (and how fragile) the mobile network is once there’s a bit of pressure. Just a thunderstorm has been known to knock a network or 2 out.
My 4x4 response group encourage us to do the ‘Foundation Licence’, unfortunately for me its just too far to travel each week (not to mention the cost of running a Land Rover Discovery). As for the storms of 1953, I can’t really forget as that’s my birthday, it was January 31st. Apart from the east coast flooding there was a railway ferry lost in the Irish Sea, the ‘Queen Victoria’, many lives were lost.
I’ve got one in mine, but I only turn it on if I’m running with somone I know has one. Then it’s great for chatting away but otherwise I can’t be doing with the [zb] on 19 
DoubleQ:
PPpS: I hold Amateur Radio Licence G4XJC ( Gee Four Xray Jasper Carrott )
So do I G8FSO.
I’m also Chairman of one of the clubs in Wakefield. We do all levels of training, and were recently recognised by the RSGB as one of the top 20 clubs in the country for training, one of only 2 clubs in the whole of Yorkshire, and the only club in West Yorkshire, if that makes sense.
Ken.
And me - M0JJH