dont ride with your headphones on!

[Neil G]

IMO not a good idea to wear headphones for urban riding at all, experienced riders or not anything that will affect awareness of your surroundings isn't good.

 

[pigman]

seeing an interesting old thread rises from the ashes

Some idiots in the press are already calling for mandatory insurance.

I've got mixed feelings on this - on one hand I agree. We all cock up sometimes, top rider or not. Some innocent Joe's insurance shouldnt pick up the cost of my mistakes. As a CTC member I have 3rd party insurance. maybe we all should??
On the other hand, its just another barrier to getting people on bikes

Next thing it will be road tax.

bring it on ... it will stop that that one liner some p'd off motorist will use. Let some government bright spark think it up, given most (enthusiasts') bikes are bastardised bits. does the tax disc stick with the frame. And given cycling is more environmentally friendly than even the zero-rate cars, it will cost us nowt.

What we in the biking community need to do is raise awareness ourselves of the bad practise within our fraternity.

Manage ourselves from inside or be managed from outside.

yup, couldnt agree more. However, not all cyclists are in it for the same reasons. There will be many a comuter who dont give a jot about cycling or cyclists per se. In fact, many hate it - the hills, weather, punctures etc - but congestion or cost pressures force them onto a bike daily. They just wanna get there and fast.

 

[technodup]

I freely admit to being a bit of a bawbag when in traffic, Pavements, red lights, undertaking, lots of fingers, insults and punching cars are all fair game in my opinion.

I would never wear headphones though. You need all your senses to navigate arsehole drivers, and hearing is particularly important.

 

[TimmyMTB]

:roll: I do, nothing like a good tune kicking out whilst blasting down the road. However, I am glad this was posted as it raises awareness and I will no longer ride with earphones on the road. They will stay in for long trail rides though.

 

[The Ken]

Gadgy as hell but in my student days I had 2 speakers mounted to my handlebars that I plugged my walkman into.

 

[mikeekim89]

no i think i've not had any close calls because i find wearing the headphones makes me more aware of my surroundings. your ears can deceive you, your eyes on the other hand don't (except for those magic eye things).

i'm not saying that i'm the perfect cyclist but i must be doing something right despite wearing headphones whenever i cycle.

I agree.

I almost always wear both headphones when I ride, ALWAYS one headphone atleast..

Think of it like, A blind man has a heightened sense of smell, As he only has Four that work at that time.

I can tell you, Every accident I've had, That's been my fault, I wasn't wearing headphones. I've had a lot of close calls too without them. Because of high traffic flow areas, I couldn't distinguish each car's sound. Your eyes, If you work on the theory above, Will work better with music, As your taking the ability to hear for danger away from them. So you'll be more observant.

 

[whiffysmiffy]

maybe he should've had the earphones in his ears rather than his eyes then he may have seen the car in front of him. Sorry he had an accident but if you don't look where you are going then whatever you are driving/riding you are going to hit something!

I have ridden with and without earphones & on country roads at speed there is no difference in hearing cars coming up from behind due to wind noise & quiet cars. And I agree that it prevents earache. However at lower speed they obviously impair hearing, but I don't think I have ever experienced a situation where I've needed to hear something to be able to avoid something or prevent something happening....maybe its just me, but I find my eyes the only real observation tool on the road whether using earphones or not.

 

[mikee]

makster got it

stay off the bloody road , its too dangerous

and if your gonna ride a bike ,powered or otherwise on the road
pay attention or go to casualty

simple (s)

 

[Drencrom]

Think of it like, A blind man has a heightened sense of smell, As he only has Four that work at that time.

There isn't any definite proof of that though, it's anecdotal at best. The brain can certainly adapt to a change in circumstances, but it's very hard to quantify scientifically.

Your eyes, If you work on the theory above, Will work better with music, As your taking the ability to hear for danger away from them. So you'll be more observant.

I don't agree with that. On my commute this morning, for example, I go through a series of walled/hedged singletrack roads, which even though the speed limit may be 30mph (max, but when did that matter) there will always be someone hitting 40+. There are bends that block the view of the vehicles in both directions. The only way I can tell if a vehicle is approaching from behind or towards me is by ear. It gives me enough time to react. Having earpohones in at that point would be truly dangerous.

I agree that we should be able to listen to music, and feel safe and happy to do it, but we don't live in an ideal world - there are drivers out there who not only disregard the speed limit and their own limitations, but also have a real hatred of cyclists - the attitude that anyone other than a car driver should be on the roads. They aren't looking out for you, and they won't expect you to be there.

 

[BertR00t]

I got one of these a while back and it works well. You can hear the road and your tunes. Sadly all the kids laugh at me when I ride past listening to Steps Greatest Hits, a misnomer I know but hey...