In 1930, laws were proposed in Massachusetts and St. Louis to ban radios while driving. According to automotive historian Michael Lamm, "Opponents of car radios argued that they distracted drivers and caused accidents, that tuning them took a driver's attention away from the road, and that music could lull a driver to sleep."

Even the Auto Club of New York agreed. In their 1934 poll, 56 percent deemed the car radio a "dangerous distraction" Arguing the other side was the Radio Manufacturers Association, who pointed out that car radios could be used to warn drivers of inclement weather and bad road conditions, as well as keeping them awake when they got drowsy.

A little history on the car radio: The first one was introduced in 1922 by Chevrolet. It cost a whopping $200. With an antenna that covered the car's entire roof, batteries that barely fit under the front seat and two mammoth speakers attached behind the seat, it was about as convenient as taking a live orchestra along for a ride.

By the early 1930s, the less cumbersome built-in Motorola radios were standard features in cars. Later in the decade, push-button tuning and presets helped drivers to select stations without taking their eyes off the road. By 1946, 9 million cars had radios. Thanks to the transistor, both size and price came way down so that by 1963, 50 million cars, over 60 percent, were outfitted with radios. Over one-third of America's radio listening occurred in the car.

And those anti-radio laws? Though a few were signed in small municipalities, they mostly went nowhere, unlike the current anti-texting laws.

Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia have now banned texting while driving. And the tickets are already piling up. In New York last year, over 5,000 texting tickets were written (each carries a $150 fine plus two points).