- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Tubeless valves
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Cyclist with earbuds - copyright Simon MacMichaelDutch study: Using headphones "Negatively affects perception of sounds crucial for safe cycling"
A study conducted in the Netherlands has concluded that cyclists who listen to music through headphones or talk on their mobile phones while riding their bikes may be putting themselves at risk.
Published in the Journal of Accident Analysis and Prevention, the study did, however, observe that when it came to teenage cyclists, there was no such correlation.
Its authors suggested that cyclists listening to music or talking on their phone in a country with less cycling infrastructure than the Netherlands might be more at risk.
The research, conducted via an internet survey of 2,249 cyclists split into three age groups –16–18 years, 30–40 and 65–70 – aimed to analyse:
1 – the auditory perception of traffic sounds, including the sounds of quiet (electric) cars
2 – the possible compensatory behaviours of cyclists who listen to music or talk on their mobile phones, and
3 – the possible contribution of listening to music and talking on the phone to cycling crashes and incidents.
It concluded: “Results show that listening to music and talking on the phone negatively affects perception of sounds crucial for safe cycling.
“However, taking into account the influence of confounding variables, no relationship was found between the frequency of listening to music or talking on the phone and the frequency of incidents among teenage cyclists.
“This may be due to cyclists’ compensating for the use of portable devices.”
The authors added: “Listening to music or talking on the phone whilst cycling may still pose a risk in the absence of compensatory behaviour or in a traffic environment with less extensive and less safe cycling infrastructure than the Dutch setting.
“With the increasing number of quiet (electric) cars on the road, cyclists in the future may also need to compensate for the limited auditory input of these cars.”
The issue of cyclists wearing headphones is sometimes addressed at coroner’s inquests where the deceased was killed while riding a bike.
In an inquest held in December 2016 following the death of Emily Norton in Howden, East Yorkshire, the coroner said: "I cannot determine if she was on her iPhone listening with earphone at the time, but if she had been, it could have caused a distraction and could have contributed to the cause of the accident."
In response to that case, both the road safety charity RoSPA and campaign organisation Cycling UK said that they discourage cyclists from wearing headphones.
Kevin Clinton of RoSPA said: “Hearing is an important sense when cycling as it gives riders warning about the approach of nearby vehicles and an idea of their speed. We advise cyclists not to wear headphones when riding.”
Cycling UK’s Duncan Dollimore said: “Our view is that wearing headphones is inadvisable, particularly if listening at high volumes or with headphones that completely shut out sound, but the idea that headphone wearing cyclists are any more of a problem than headphone wearing pedestrians is not borne out by any evidence we have seen.”
> Video: Cyclist collides with headphone-wearing runner
Occasionally, the prospect of a ban on cyclists wearing headphones is floated, for example by Boris Johnson when he was Mayor of London, reacting to the deaths of several cyclists in the capital in late 2013.
> Government 'will not legislate' for Mayor of London's cyclist headphone ban
Many cyclists who choose not to wear headphones take the view that as vulnerable road users, they should avoid doing anything that might impair their awareness of the environment surrounding them.
But others maintain that they feel quite safe riding with them, and that a ban using headphones while riding would be akin to telling deaf people that they aren’t allowed to cycle.
Meanwhile, no-one talks about banning motorists from listening to music - something that can have fatal consequences for others.
> "Blaring music" meant driver didn't know he'd hit cyclist, court told
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- HalfDanHalfBiscuit 2 hours 49 min ago
Per capita thefts isn't all that useful a metric as it doesn't take into account levels of bike ownership. Cambridge is probably the cycling...
- Critman 4 hours 15 min ago
"30mm outer diameter 18mm inner diameter 13.4mm". Good luck finding a skinny tire.
- Destroyer666 5 hours 43 min ago
Ahem, the recommended lockring is just a common through-axle specific lockring, so nothing Miche specific there, and the required tool for it is an...
- Destroyer666 6 hours 38 min ago
Nonono, not those, but those that have constructed Italian cars and motorcycles that have been driven to hundreds of race and championship...
- RoubaixCube 6 hours 47 min ago
This may well be the case although Im unaware of the brands popularity on their home turf. I used to see them being advertised more in the UK...
- qwerty360 7 hours 17 min ago
Arguably sticking it in a bank account is bad....
- Sredlums 8 hours 16 min ago
I'd counter that those brakes were in fact so inadequate that they eventually developed a whole new type of bicycle that was actually suited for it...
- levestane 8 hours 18 min ago
Unfortunately, Africa is heavily exploited both for resource extraction...
- CitizenSmith 8 hours 44 min ago
There seems to be no support for TOO) now - their email and website are defunct. They are inactive on Facebook. Aftter less than a year the rails...
Add new comment
69 comments
Nah, I'd rather listen to a tuned to the hilt 2jz engine. Silent cars have no soul.
My headphone compromise is nearside earphone only. Best of both worlds then. You get run over, fully aware AND listen to Slayer.
I didn't see anyone commenting on the stand out point for me from this article, cycling in less well developed countries. I cycle to music all the time and have done all my life (57). When I do cycle without headphones I still use the visual techniques I've developed because seeing is much more reliable than simply hearing.
I have ridden in India and Vietnam, and I definitely wouldn't listen to music while cycling in Ho Chi Minh City. Manouvres are generally performed in parallel with a horn blow with no indication beforehand.
The issue here is the relative safety rather than safety - not having your tv on may give you a greater chance of hearing a burglar about to enter your house, with the risks so low, who cares?
The likelihood in most collisions is a car close passing me, pulling out on me or left hooking me; me hearing that happen makes no difference. I had one headphone in on Sunday, listened to 'bespoke' and heard the lady a mile from my house slam on the brakes trying to pass me on a single lane roundabout, i then saw her nearly left hook me. If I'd not had the headphone in I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to teleport to safety!
I don't get this... I've ridden with and without headphones.
On a mountain bike, I'd argue there is a difference, as the sound of the tyres will aid in judging grip levels.
On the road, I see no benefit to hearing other than to exerience the horror of realisation the split second before a vehicle rear-ends you.
Everything else, everything else, should be judged on vision and is therefore not essential.
I wear a hearing aid in each ear. In one ear I am profoundly deaf in part of the range, and in the other ear it ranges down to severely deaf. Deafness is not binary, all or nothing, except possibly (I don't know) where there is very severe nerve damage. Most people experience some degree of hearing loss as they age, although in my case it was the result of disease.
If I'm cycling other than a quick trip to the shops I take out my HAs because the wind noise is annoying (although can drown out the tinnitus, so maybe not so bad after all).
I have indeed developed a super-sense, which is the extra brains required to watch where the fuck I'm going, and always to be aware of what's going on around me. They teach this in driving lessons, and also, If I remember correctly, in cycling proficiency. Being deaf is not obligatory.
I intend to get some made for iPhone HAs later this year, and they can be programmed to cancel wind noise, so I could perhaps wear the HAs more when I cycle, but frankly it's a relief to take the damn things out usually, the world is so noisy.
https://youtu.be/-Yx99rr6wwc
I often find that Daily Mail readers who are concerned that 'cyclists might get themselves killed' by riding with headphones/not wearing hi-vis, are also the same people who close-pass you doing 40-odd miles per hour.
Their concern for our welbeing is conditional as to whether we're 'in their way' or not.
For me, people can wear headphones if they like. As long as their actions are not bothering me, they're not bothering me.
Great, so all those wonderful new inventions of built in headphones in helmets make them even more useless.
Cycling home in the dark on v busy roads, got overtaken by a guy in black with his rear light not working. Managed to catch up halfway round a 3 lane roundabout and shout.
"YOUR BACK LIGHT ISN'T ON!"
He pulls out a headphone and say "WHAT?"
"YOUR BACK LIGHT ISN'T ON!"
"YEAH, I KNOW!" and he rode off.
I did not think he was very senible.
Work on your empathy a bit more - loads of people had been telling him about his rear liht for his whole journey. But he needed to get home and there was nothing he could do about the flat battery there and then was there.
Can you tell if you are about to the left hooked by the engine sound?
the dutch already have form on this for headphones whilst cycling, yet another flawed study back in 2011 IIRC.
scientists at the University of Groningen found that "listening to music resulted in reduced visual and auditory perception and reduced speed". The authors suggested this may reduce cyclist stability.
And yet as wearing headphones went up in the last 10 years deaths went down a LOT. They ignored the effects of e-bikes on the older generation which was the only group to show an upward trend in KSIs, partivcularly those that were buying pedalecs in huge numbers, in some age groups more than normal bicycles.
Florida state imposed a law against wearing headphones, instead of reducing deaths of people on bikes it went up massively, clearly and as per the norm ignoring the real threat on the roads!
"The ban does not appear to have had an effect on cycling fatalities though which increased in Florida by nearly 58 per cent from 76 deaths in 2010 to 120 deaths from cycling accidents in 2011."
Quebec brought in a ban on headphones, there were 4 cycling deaths in a population of 1.6million, that year, not a single one was attributed to wearing headphones. and yet police are targetting bicyclists instead of focussing on the real dangers, sound familiar to australia??
Yet more bias/discrimination against people on bikes and a 'study' done by people whom are funded by the very government who already have a ban in place, again, Australia/helmets/Jake Olivier anyone?
Governments/EU allow huge amounts of distractions in vehicles that mean the operators kill and maim by the tens of millions every year around the world and yet a small potential reduction in hearing that may or may not result in a tiny, tiny fraction of a % of incidents are the focus. Go get fucked, how about banning phone zombies, that would have a bigger impact thousands of times over!
Oh and I never wear headphones, on bike, walking or in car, but to think that people on bikes wearing them is an issue is utter bollocks!
In my state it's illegal to drive with headphones on (theoretically this would apply to cyclists too if it were enforced), but deaf people are legally allowed to drive. That's bureaucratic logic for you.
When I raced, I trained with headphones to help boredom; but I only would wear one headphone at a time and keep an one open ear to help hear my surroundings. I don't listen to music anymore though, because now I just ride for health and enjoyment, and music kind of misses the point of enjoying outdoors. That said, if someone wants to listen to music, have at it. Just be responsible.
Because you are already in a relatively soundproofed box.
I don't think I ever use sound to assist in my decision making when driving a car or riding a motorbike (except when someone blasts a horn or there is an emergy vehicle with sirens on), but I definately use sound when riding my push bike.
The issue around this and deaf people is interesting, is it that the music is distracting, rather than the issue of not hearing stuff?
If yes, then you are right to question stereos in cars, but then if you ban car stereos then you should also ban passengers in cars and group cycling, as presumably conversations with someone can be equally distracting.
So how come car stereos are still legal?
Don't forget about deaf people - they have the same legal right to get a driving license or ride a bike.
I wonder if anyone has done similar tests of car drivers listening to music whilst driving.
They have - and the results are inconclusive.
http://blog.esurance.com/does-music-make-you-an-unsafe-driver/
However, with cars as sound-proofed as they are, it's not a sense that's used a lot whilst driving. Contrast that to cycling where you use your ears about as much as your eyes in town.
Though then the test should surely be comparing sound-proofed modern cars with vehicles where you can hear your environment?
Really, all these studies fall down somewhat because the bottom line is that motorised vehicles are inherently dangerous to a degree that renders other distinctions (e.g. cycling with vs without headphones) rather minor.
It is useful to know these things, so people can make better-informed decisions for themselves (I don't use headphones because I feel they negatively effect my concerntration), but the trouble is the tendency is for these studies to be used as a basis for making bad laws or just tiresome nagging and victim-blaming by people who choose to ignore the 4x4 in the living room.
But that's nowt to do with safety and everything to do with the notion of 'equality'.
And aren't we supposed to say 'hearing impaired' in this new world that people have created for us?
Nope you are quite wrong.
In the 1920s, a few states (U.S.) implemented laws to deny driving licences to deaf people, but through education, those laws were repealed as there is no evidence that deaf people are less safe. So, it was because of equality AND safety that deaf people have the same right to drive as anyone else.
Deaf people generally prefer the terms "deaf" or "hard of hearing" rather than "hearing impaired" as there is a negative connotation to "hearing impaired". (Some deaf people refuse to accept the "disabled" label and instead celebrate using sign language as part of their culture ).
one of the benefits in the UK of being deaf is that you can get a Disabled Person's Railcard, which gives you and one accompanying adult 30% discount on your rail fare.
The only sign language I can do is "fuck off you dickheaded wanker", and luckily I can usually lip-read the reply through the car's windscreen.
Ah... like me you use the International Abbreviated Sign Language. I am heartened by the number of people that have taken the time to learn and practise it. Soon we shall all understand each other.
Nobody created a world for you, and that's why you're so wacky and controversial.
I think some people had a go, in Europe somewhere, about 80 years ago... Vaguely recall that it didn't end well. Ask someone who's read a book to fill in the gaps for you.
Wacky and controversial is crediting Val with more brains than usually displayed. I can suggest another w and c word.
Well, deaf people somehow are able to compensate their hearing loss so it's not the same.
Genius, that.
My mate's deaf. Says he can sense the arrival of a lorry behind him by picking up the vibrations through the fillings in his teeth.
I can sense the arrival of a lorry behind me by looking over my shoulder or seeing it in my mirror.
No doubt this cyclist sensed the lorry !
http://road.cc/content/news/232230-near-miss-day-58-lorry-driver-makes-v...
although what action you might take I'm not really sure.
That certainly would have got my spider sense tingling!
This is what I do.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DiaqvSVwTWQ
I'm guessing that they look around a bit more.
Pages