How come I never see a cyclist with listening to music with an mp3 player? - Page 2

I'm not telling you to wear headphones or do anything else, you are however pontificating that I shouldn't listen to music while riding, making generalised statements based on no evidence whatsoever and some story from your childhood.

For your information I would have heard the semi-trailer approaching from behind (swerving round your parents) and got out of the way as well. Had you been riding in the opposite direction would you have heard the car coming up behind you (over the much louder noise of the semi) that swerved onto the shoulder to avoid a head on with a truck? I would have assumed that possibility and dived for cover.

I can distinguish other noises form soft music easily and I'm not some teenager veging out to deathmetal in some drug crazed stuper as you seem to be generalising about people who listen to music. Some people have a hearing defect that makes it difficult to distinguish a conversation from background noises and this may extend to traffic noises from music? Most people including myself don't have this problem.

My main point is not whether people should or shouldn't listen to music, it's that people who rely on their hearing and don't look are accidents waiting to happen. I've observed many cyclists whilst driving and riding who swerve out into the adjacent lane or turn right (we ride on the left hand side here) across the traffic without even a glance. I've nearly collected a couple myself and put it down to my fairly quiet car. They definately didn't look so they must have been relying on their hearing. My riding partner even did it recently and nearly got cleaned up by a slow quiet car passing us. Her startled response "I didn't hear it" and she doesn't listen to music.

It's harder to hear the honking and swearing of the irritated motorists when you have earphones in.

I am not sure why you are so hostile. I said that I think that it is dangerous and my advice is to not wear headphones and ride and I stick with that. I prefer to use all of my senses to avoid danger. Others must agree with me as local laws forbid wearing headphones while cycling or driving. If you have no such prohibitions where you live, you are free to make that decsion on your own.
BTW you aren't even the originator of this thread so how do you come to the conclusion that I am singling you out? It was general advice to the orginator of the thread so chill.

Small point, pod doesn't have any evidence that his situational awareness hasn't decreased with the use of ipod/earpieces. It's not something you can objectively measure on yourself.

Deaf people can ride bikes, but while they've lost their hearing, their other senses have become more acute. From the standpoint of physics, it cannot be argued that earpieces emitting music do not decrease the discretion with which someone is able to analyze their aural input. You don't have to do a study to see that.

Natural selection.

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If you really want to listen to music on the roads they have some good jackets with speakers built into the collar. Good for skiiing and snowbaording too. I've ridden both with and without music, riding messenger as well as recreationally. Personally I find my 'safe space' decreases with head phones, but not with speakers as the music becomes part of the environment as opposed to being injected into my hearing canal. this is not to say I'm less aware, because when riding with music I look around alot more. I've decided that for safety reasons, not for legal ones I don't use heaphones. I simply move too fast and use every bit of information that comes to me while riding, and my hearing does help me determine if I have room to slice across that lane without impeding the cars' movemement. Remember what the driver ALWAYS says ... I didn't see you ... therefore we must be invisible.

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Messengers....the other Pros
Professional Rider, Closed course, DO NOT attempt this yourself.

I do not do it for 2 reasons....I feel it is unsafe, no matter how others feel, and it is illegal here in New Jersey. I would be completely humiliated to get a ticket on my bicycle...unless it is a speeding ticket

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"Don't think, feeeeeeeeeeeeel....
It is like a finger, pointing away
to the moon......
Don't concentrate on the finger,
or you'll miss all that Heavenly glory."

Bruce Lee
"Enter The Dragon"

The point is that anything that decreases your awareness, like music in your ears decreases your ability to know what is going on around you. You only have to look at other threads on this forum that complain about walkers and skaters who do not hear cyclists approaching to see evidence of that.

Anyone who rides does not keep aware by just listening or looking it is a combination of both. You hear something so you have a look. Although motorists are often culpible as a result of lack of awareness, it could be argued that if cyclist want to be responsible they need to maintain maximum awareness as well.

Although hearing impaired people ride, it doesn't mean they have as much awareness of their environment as people with hearing. Wearing ear buds is choosing to ride with decreased awareness. Deaf people don't have that choice.

I often ride with my iPod on. I just don't keep it too loud. After many years of riding, I'm ultra-attentive to traffic anyway.

You guys are retarded. I swear this forum is full of the bottom of the barrel in the gene pool sweepstakes sometimes, which is why I am rarely on it. Idiot questions like this, and "does cycling make you taller" seem to be the norm more often than not unfortunately. It's ILLEGAL for a reason you morons! You know, like crack cocaine and shooting people and the like - it's just not a good idea for anyone with a shed of common sense in their body. Go right ahead if you have a chase car with you like LA, or if you have a wish to die at an early age. Has anyone here actually seen the statistics about cyclists killed by cars (9 in NYC alone year to date June)? They're not looking out for us, and if you have half a brain you would be wise to use ALL of your obviously deficient senses to protect yourself on a bike at all times:

"...found that cyclists and pedestrians in the United States were two to six times more likely to be killed than their German or Dutch counterparts. Per kilometer traveled, U.S. pedestrians were 23 times more likely to get killed than the occupants of a car, while bicyclists were 12 times more likely to be killed. In the United States in 2000, 662,000 bicyclists and 191,000 pedestrians ended up in emergency rooms. And 740 of those cyclists and 4,598 pedestrians died..." [Yahoo Newswire - Connie Chung 8/2003]

Of course those of you who think it's fine in your little imaginary world where everyone is attentive behind the wheel and will yield to your every little cycling whim, I encourage heartily to go out and ride in some traffic with your iPod and no helmet. Do the rest of us a favor.

Gee, how do you really feel? I mean, fair enough comment though.

It's not as black and white as you think though. I also ride a motorcycle and I am insanely devoted to safety issues. However, note that almost all motorbike riders wear earplugs out of necessity -- they can't hear a thing if they're in right. In both cases, the most important safety feature is to ride defensively, and always be highly, highly aware of the traffic around you.

Your motorcycle provides an extra 600lb "cushion" for you in the case of a crash versus the 15lbs for a road bike. It's simply not smart to do on a bike. How many times do you warn someone with "on your left" before passing (maybe you brainiacs don't)? I can't count the number of times people are just completely unaware of their surroundings - looking at trees, people, thinking about work, what they are going to have for lunch, etc etc etc - and have not yielded or turned into me. Throw an iPod into the mix and you have dangerous people for the rest of us. I honestly don't care if you get smashed up by a truck driver who has been behind the wheel too long and isn't as concerned about your safety, I'm all for it, but don't go and do it at the expense of my safety. Selfish morons.

First, it's smart to wear earplugs on a motorcycle because the earplugs damp the high frequency noise (aka, wind noise) that would otherwise drown out the sounds the motorcyclist should hear. That's a fact.

Second, I'm not sure how a motorcycle provides any cushion. I can tell you that if you go down on a motorcycle it is extremely sub-optimal when you get hit by the motorcycle. I had a racing crash at a triple digit speed that I thought I'd come through pretty nicely as I slid down the track, on my back, at over 100mph.....that thought changed when I saw my race bike re-entering the atmosphere six feet above me. I guarantee you that its effects on my corpus were less than cushion-like. Saying a motorcycle provides a 600 lb cushion is about the most ignorant thing I've ever heard. That 400, 500, or 600 lb bike is a system with a lot more energy than a bicycle....and that energy gets expended, in part, on the rider.

100+ mph on anything and you're playing with fire no matter how "good" or "aware" you are. Sorry to hear about your accident, but back to the topic - you'd be infinitely better off on a motorcycle in a 25mph crash with a car than on your bicycle. Your comparison was completely irrelevant. Just say no to drugs son.

You morons need to read the Jim Price threads: http://www.cyclingforums.com/t301831...-a-member.html

I feel sick after reading that we have lost Boudreaux. Although most of you are probably mentally disabled, we simply don't need another tragedy. Why would any of you CHOOSE to do something so obviously detrimental as wear an iPod when you are up against 2 ton SUVs on the road. I'm sure you could skydive in a straightjacket too (pulling the ripcord with your teeth of course - it's perfectly safe) but hell if I would try it. Try to ACT smart at least.

Actually, you're completely ignorant of the physics of anything, sonny. Explain how a motorcycle protects you, oh wise one....and tell us, while you're at it how that protection is infinitely better than on a bike. You need to say "yes" to logic and critical thought.