The following was published in the CGC Communicator (issue #839; June 3, 2008), an e-mail newsletter for broadcast engineers in Southern California. Many broadcast engineers have amateur radio licenses. I have subscribed to the CGC Communicator for more than ten years and have always found it to be an extremely reliable source of information. 

 

CHP POSITION ON THE "HANDS-FREE" WIRELESS TELEPHONE LAWS

CGC has been flooded with opinions on the subject of the
"hands-free" wireless telephone laws that go into effect in
California on July 1, 2008.  However, two readers sent us copies
of the following letter from the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
that appears to be great news for not just ham radio operators,
but two-way users in general.

CGC has verified the authenticity of the following e-mail.
While the following letter is not necessarily binding on
non-CHP law enforcement officers, we plan to carry a copy of
the letter in our two-way radio equipped vehicles to reduce our
chances of becoming a legal test case come July 1.

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CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL E-MAIL

Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 07:48:20 -0700
From: Fran Clader <FClader@chp.ca.gov>
Subject: Re: New Cell Phone Laws - July 1, 2008

The new cell phone laws involve only wireless telephones.
They do not concern radios such as your (Amateur Radios),
unless they are also wireless telephones.

Again, the law only applies to wireless telephones.

Thanks for your inquiry.  If you have any further questions,
please give us a call.  Or, you can call your local San Diego
area CHP office.

Fran Clader
Commander
Office of Media Relations
California Highway Patrol
(916) 657-7202