Headphones and Cycling! Is it safe?

[adds21]

Audible.

Of course. Friday head on today.

 

[Crankarm]

i posted a thread last year saying about what a lovely ride id had with radiohead blasting on the ole mp3.......... a guy replied saying pretty much what a numpty i was. this started a bit of a debate with many pepes defending my right to cycle with earphones in..................... and then this year i got hit knocked off, from behind. the driver didnt see me, and i didnt hear him.

im not so sure now wether maybe i was being a numpty.????

Sorry to read you were knocked off. I hope you weren't seriously hurt, but as far as this thread does it is QED.

 

[BentMikey]

i posted a thread last year saying about what a lovely ride id had with radiohead blasting on the ole mp3.......... a guy replied saying pretty much what a numpty i was. this started a bit of a debate with many pepes defending my right to cycle with earphones in..................... and then this year i got hit off, from behind. the driver didnt see me, and i didnt hear him.

im not so sure now wether maybe i was being a numpty.????

With a driver like that, I think that neither seeing nor hearing them would have made much difference. By the time you'd realise, chances are you wouldn't have time to react anyway.

 

[c2c]

Sorry to read you were knocked off. I hope you weren't seriously hurt, but as far as this thread does it is QED.

pretty badly hurt, 8 weeks off work. always learn the hard way me. no helmet, no high viz, and earphones in. the car driver was utterly at fault but i have realised its best to maximise ones chances of survival...!!

 

[Brahan]

Do what you want. If you want to ride on the kerb at night with headphones in and no lights in your bike then I couldn't care less.

Do what you bloody well want.

Just stay out of MY way.

 

[c2c]

I never wear headphones, but I am pretty deaf and therefore rely almost totally on vision anyway - the same as when my hearing was OK - there will nearly always be traffic coming from behind - relying on hearing and not looking is a recipe for hospital food

completely off topic sorry............... but psmiffy, is that a wodehouse reference.....??

 

[dodgy]

i posted a thread last year saying about what a lovely ride id had with radiohead blasting on the ole mp3.......... a guy replied saying pretty much what a numpty i was. this started a bit of a debate with many pepes defending my right to cycle with earphones in..................... and then this year i got hit off, from behind. the driver didnt see me, and i didnt hear him.

im not so sure now wether maybe i was being a numpty.????

That only makes sense if you take evasive action every time you hear a car behind you, and I imagine even now you don't jump off your bike if you hear a car coming from behind you?

I've used headphones in the past but find them uncomfortable and fiddly so don't bother anymore.

And presumably those vehemently against headphones also augment their senses with rear view mirrors?

 

[c2c]

That only makes sense if you take evasive action every time you hear a car behind you, and I imagine even now you don't jump off your bike if you hear a car coming from behind you?

I've used headphones in the past but find them uncomfortable and fiddly so don't bother anymore.

And presumably those vehemently against headphones also augment their senses with rear view mirrors?

yeah fair point, but as i say when you were lucky not to be maimed for life or worse, you maximise your chances.

 

[4F]

Genuine question, why do people wear headphones when cycling ? Is it boredom or to cut out city traffic noise ?

 

[Jezston]

I enjoy listening to music.

Sometimes I listen to relaxing stuff if I'm feeling stressed and it helps de-stress me, sometimes I listen to more energetic stuff when I'm feeling lazy and it helps motivate me. Mostly though, because I like it.

 

[Jezston]

Do what you want. If you want to ride on the kerb at night with headphones in and no lights in your bike then I couldn't care less.

Do what you bloody well want.

Just stay out of MY way.

See the problem I have with this statement is that you are considering wearing headphones while cycling as dangerous and foolish as riding at night with no lights and on the kerb. I don't believe that it is as dangerous as those things or in fact dangerous at all.

 

[jonny jeez]

I don't believe that it is as dangerous as those things or in fact dangerous at all.

I do.

Cant be bothered to read all the posts, I am sure they represent the same comments heard before.....

but for my tuppence worth, how can we complain about ped wearing earphones and not hearing us, when we do the same. Oh and cars have rear view mirrors so listening to a stereo in a car is nothing like when riding a motor or push bike....(I'm sure someone must had made that comparrison already)


sorry if all this has been said already.

Bottom lime, we are all grown ups and can make our own choices, just so long as we accept the responsibility of those choices.

...I cant talk, I choose to ride a freakin motorcycle for Gods sake!

 

[Hacienda71]

Genuine question, why do people wear headphones when cycling ? Is it boredom or to cut out city traffic noise ?

I am in the 50/50 camp I never wear them when commuting in traffic due to drivers unpredictability but wear them sometimes when leisure riding in the countryside as I like listening to music. Don't have them on too loud and have never to date touch wood missed a car approaching from behind. I think it is very much each to their own though.

 

[dodgy]

Personally I think it's a bit dumb.

Average noise of traffic is 80db, so to hear what you are palying you'd have to have it at around 90-95db more then enough to some damage after prolonged use.

Next time you are out on the bike turn the volume up to the level you would normally listen to and then go into a quiet place to see how loud you really have to have the volume to listen in traffic.

Don't agree, when I did use headphones I used to have it loud enough to listen to podcasts and mainly radio. You're assuming I absolutely have to hear everything above traffic, which isn't true. I accept that I will miss some of the output when a loud car goes past - just as I have to accept that if I'm chatting with a roadie mate, I'm not going to hear his every word when cars go past.

 

[JoysOfSight]

"Headphones and cycling! Is it safe?" - the answer of course is, depends how bad your riding is. If it's good, then it makes no difference at all.

If, as many people seem to imply, you listen for reasons not to manouvre instead of using your eyes, then you definitely shouldn't have headphones in. Because although listening instead of looking is crap, it is better than not listening or looking!

But the consensus often seems to be that, although you can't put your finger on a situation where hearing would have made any difference to your own riding, it's better to be able to hear than not be able to hear. I think this is simply conflating the comfort of hearing, with some imagined safety benefit.

I ride in rush hour, mainly without headphones, but often with them. Your ears just aren't important in any imaginable way, unless your skills are weak, and you're riding wrong. (Which isn't to say that I disagree with people who find it comforting to be able to hear, which is quite different).

Take the post above by jonny jeez as a great example of this confusion. I can't think of any psychological explanation that not being able to hear traffic should make pedestrians *less likely* to look before stepping into the road, rather than more. What, if they switch the music off, they are more likely to think "I *can't* hear a bike, so I should look to make sure!"

Really?

I resisted registering here for so long, but this finally won me over...