Earphones on cyclists: Yea or Nay?

No, if your ears work, use them, it's essential, you're kidding yourself on otherwise, on cycle or on horseback, anything else makes enough noise of its own that it makes little odds, there is no comparison with motor vehicles.

I hear something behind, or to the side, I turn round and look, I ensure my road position is good well in advance.

Motor vehicle tyre noise can be heard a long way off.

[[[[[ Sam Walker--shouldn't that be "handlebars and Handel's bars"?
P.R.

Nay

When driving my ears don't really give me much information about the road around me , at best tell me my motor is in needed of a service. So music in that instance does not reduce my awareness. Though it can influence behaviour.

On my bike I can hear engines , people , bells , alarms , tyres , brakes etc. All of which increase my awareness of the road around me , give me some insight on those blind bends etc. This would be lost if using earphones.

I would also suspect , but would love to see some research on , much of what people listen to is not appropriate. In your post you show surgeons as one answer, many of whom do have music during ops to help calm the patient and quite probably themselves. Conversely playing some banging tunes can have the opposite effect and could influence poor behaviour.

More research is really needed but I prefer to err on the side of caution.

'Quote:
don't then complain when you are hit from behind or from the side.'

Because being able to hear someone about to hit you from behind enables you to....what?

Well... From personal experience, hear the taxi waiting at the junction hit the revs as I passed in front of him.

Had time to glance, assess, and choose what bit of the Zafira hit me. Brake hard get the offside wing across my front end and over the bonnet with a hard tarmac landing, accelerate and get the nearside on my back end with the spinning result, or tweak position and get hit dead centre of the grill where the best bits of the crumple zones are and no glass and hope he brakes.

Believe me, I made this assessment in the bare two seconds I had before impact and screamed blue hell at the driver at the same time. I was not getting away. Bike destroyed, suspected (but not) broken leg, I was as prepared as I could be to hit the ground on my right side. Without the warning I heard, my scream at the driver which startled him into braking, oblivious, unprepared and run down....

It's a no-no for me. Someone made a point about deaf cyclists above, would I ban them? No, but they inherently take more risks than me when riding, because they have one less sense to use. Just like I use my experience as an extra sense to know which type of side roads or junctions to take extra care around.

'For me, nay. I'm already riding a mobile entertainment device. Adding another one would only confuse me. But I am a simple man.'

That is a *splendid* response

As quite a few above have stated, I don't wear earphones because I like to enjoy my time outdoors and hear the sounds of the city. I do note that when I'm walking with earphones that it is significantly more difficult to locate the distance and location of sounds even though I have the sound low enough that I can hear conversations around me. In terms of other riders wearing earphones, many times (especially during commuting times when it's busy) I'll be overtaking another cyclist who is wearing earphones who can't hear me warning them that I'm passing (ie "Passing left") and have had to swing wide to avoid them weaving out in front of me. By all means enjoy yourself but don't be oblivious.

I always wear them. On a four hour ride I can take in a whole audiobook, or gym music keeps me going on a sportive.

Cyclists who are deaf find their ability to cycle not impaired by their hearing loss, neither is mine when I wear headphones. I choose not to most of the time because most of my journeys are quite short and I love fully immersing myself in music.

It's all a "dead cat" diversion tactic by the politicians and driving lobby designed to throw blame and risk onto the person riding a bike & make cyclists seem reckless.

Wearing earphones are a lot less of an issue than listening to tunes in a hermetically sealed steel and glass box, but that is the social normal and therefore acceptable.

I rarely wear them btw as I find the wind noise irritating, and enjoy listening to the countryside, unless I'm alongside a busy road & then I can't hear myself think anyways. They only come out when I am followinf directions on cyclestreets or google

NO, NO, NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT. When riding a bike you are in charge of a DANGEROUS VEHICLE that weighs 10 kilograms and can easily achieve speeds of 20 mph (if wind/gravity are favourable).

Anyone using headphones or mobile phones on a bike is putting themselves at risk, and everyone else who cycles too, as it makes car, lorry and bus drivers respect us less.

Etc, etc...

Forget what lorry drivers, car drivers, deaf drivers/ riders are doing. It's up to each of us to take responsibility for our own safety. I would recommend not using headphones (see my earlier post), if there is a cycle path / lane - use it, make sure you can be easily seen (lights, reflective gear etc) wear as much protective gear as you can cope with and most importantly don't rely on other road users common sense - they often don't have any. Your safety is your responsibility don't rely on other peoples fast reactions or anticipation. Remember in the Highway Code it tells us to observe, indicate THEN manoeuvre. It really is that obvious, but the number of 2 and 4 + wheeled road users that I see doing stupid things that put themselves or others in danger defies belief.

I wear earphones on my commute - I listen to Radio 4 (it's the only chance I get to catch up on the news). The reception isn't great and often it's set to a low mutter that I can tune out if necessary or turn up if interested. I find my commute quite boring having done it for several years and welcome having something to listen to. I can still hear traffic coming behind me and have a volume control widget under my chin which means I can silence radio for courtesy (when talking to other cyclists for example).

When I did my LeJog and the East-West (St David's-Lowestoft) I took my i-pod but didn't use it; just being somewhere different and doing such an amazing trip was enough. I didn't need music and didn't want the news.

I agree that you shouldn't deafen yourself and should be aware of surroundings. But when in the car I have music or radio on; why not on the bike?

I think the most important thing is not what you can hear but what you are aware of. And that's a whole different matter.

It's like the difference between a car driver looking in their mirror and observing what they can see in their mirror.

It's the difference between looking ahead and reading the road ahead.

As human beings we are very good at sensing threats and in order to do this we use all our senses so deafness is not a factor.

So, being stone deaf means you can't safely ride your bike, or drive, or walk along the street?

Just how much can the driver of an articulated lorry hear when he is sitting in his cab, 3m up in the air, with the engine noise and radio one with the windows up, or a car driver with the radio on?

Contrast and compare.

a) Cyclist privately listening to their choice of music through headphones.
b) W**k*r in car inflicting his choice of Drum & Base on the world at a volume that is causing his eardrums to meet in the middle as there is bugger all in the way to stop them.

a) Cyclist privately listening to their choice of music through headphones whilst still being aware of their surroundings.
b) W**k*r in car inflicting his choice of Drum & Base on the world at a volume ... with the windows wound up and completely oblivious to the world at large or the screams of his victims.

Personally I don't wear headphones, not because of safety concerns but for the simple reason I don't find in-ear phones or 'cans' comfortable when riding. If you chose to wear them that's up to you; just so long as your aware of my presence. That's all I ask. Be safe!

It's not an offence but a Dutch study showed that young drivers (car drivers) tend to make more mistakes / bad calls when listening to music - not even using headphones.
IMHO anything that distract you or limits your ability to be aware of whats happening around you is a bad idea.
Be safe out there.

I personally wont do it as I feel it disorientated me when I did try it. However...

..yesterday when riding home from work I did pass a young rider (I'd say about 17) with full cups over the ears. Yes he was listening to music. BUT when I slowed behind to make sure it was safe to pass he was looking around, observing and acknowledged my presence. He accounted for the idiot pedestrian who rambled into the road like a drunk on a mobile, he went wide of the taxi door and didnt try to go down the left of the lorry at the lights.

I think it depends on the rider. I've seen plenty of riders over the years without 'phones in who ride like idiots. Like the salmon lad 15 minutes later yesterday...

EDIT - I will say. A guy at work used to put his phone/mp3 on a "speaker phone" setting when he rode. OK its a bit noisy for others but its an option to look into

For me, nay. I'm already riding a mobile entertainment device. Adding another one would only confuse me. But I am a simple man.

I ride with my left headphone in as personally I find I'm more aware of my surroundings!
When I've ridden without I find my mind wandering and then sometimes the bike wanders across the road a bit!!!

I used to ride with one headphone tucked in to my left ear. I stopped because I ride for all the pleasures that cycling brings, including enjoying the sounds around me. Whether or not it's safer isn't the question needed here. What we ought to ask is why reduce the effectiveness of one of our senses when all we really have to protect us on our bikes is our wits? Ultimately, the choice is ours to make, just like wearing helmets, fluoro jackets/ jerseys and bike lights.

As someone who hit the deck hard whilst wearing in-ear earphones having been hit by a car (not music / earphone related - driver jumped a red and t-boned me) I can attest to the pain that ramming an earphone into your inner ear does. I've never worn earphones since.

'Quote:
don't then complain when you are hit from behind or from the side.'

Because being able to hear someone about to hit you from behind enables you to....what?

Just to hear team radio now and again.

Nah seriously, I like to hear nature. I think it's pretty sad if you really have to block that out. You're not as aware if you've got your music on really loud either, hearing is an important sense.

The only people I tend to see with headphones in whilst riding are kids riding their BMX or MTB, on the pavement one handed usually, or *shudder* the fluorescent commuter squad. Both I consider less skilled cyclists.

Headphones on the trainer and in the gym are essential though.

Not particularly fair comparisons. Wearing headphones while driving is illegal. Wearing headphones while performing surgery would get your medical licence to practice revoked.

Having the radio on in the background of those activities is the equivalent of having your mobile phone in your pocket playing through the speakers, NOT headphones.

Back to the point: If you want to block out all the traffic information from behind you and most of the information coming from the sides then feel free, but don't then complain when you are hit from behind or from the side.