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news
Cyclist with earbuds - copyright Simon MacMichaelTwo thirds of road users say cyclists should be banned from using headphones, claims survey
More than two thirds of road users in the UK support a ban on cyclists wearing headphones while riding their bikes, according to a new survey conducted among 35,000 road users across 32 countries worldwide – with a British road safety charity describing them as “the ultimate distraction.”
The E-Survey of Road Users’ Attitudes (ESRA), whose partners include governments and national road safety associations, found that across the sample as a whole, 65.8 per cent of respondents backed such a ban, including 68.2 per cent of respondents in the UK, wiith around 1,000 people quizzed in each country. We don't know if respondents were asked whether listening to music while driving should also be banned.
In Europe, support for a headphones ban was highest in Spain, at nearly 80 per cent, and lowest in Finland, at 36 per cent. Countries with the strongest cycling cultures such as the Netherlands and Denmark saw a small minority of road users in favour of a ban.
Globally, more women than men were in favour of a ban while by age, 18-24 year olds were most opposed to such a measure, with 53.5 per cent of that age group worldwide expressing support, but only 44.1 per cent in Europe.
Neil Greig, Policy and Research Director at the road safety charity IAM RoadSmart, commented: “It’s clear that the majority of road users are very concerned about distracted cyclists wearing headphones or earbuds while riding. These findings were consistent right across the world in this substantial survey.
“Being plugged in to either headphones or earbuds is the ultimate distraction, as it completely shuts you off to your surroundings, creating a potential road safety risk to yourself, pedestrians and other road users around you. This is even more critical with the popularity and increasing prevalence of noise-cancelling equipment.”
He added: “There are plans to update the Highway Code being discussed as we speak, so now is a great time to have an informed debate about the best way for cyclists to avoid potentially fatal distractions.”
In fact the consultation to planned changes to the Highway Code closed last month, with no reference in the Department for Transport’s proposed new wording made to banning headphones and similar audio equipment for cyclists or other road users for that matter.
The Highway Code does, however, say that both motorists and cyclists should avoid distractions, with listening to music at excessive volume, for example, potentially falling into that category.
The government has however consistently rejected calls for cycling while using headphones to be banned – including one in November 2013 from Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, after the deaths of six riders in the capital although he did not cite any evidence of audio devices being a factor in those fatalities.
> Government “will not legislate” for Mayor of London’s cyclist headphone ban
In 2018, researchers in the Netherlands published research which found that wearing headphones while riding “negatively affects perception of sounds crucial for safe cycling.”
> Dutch study: Using headphones “Negatively affects perception of sounds crucial for safe cycling”
The authors of the study 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.
Commenting on that study, Duncan Dollimore of Cycling UK said at the time: “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.”
Whether or not to wear headphones while riding is of course a matter of personal choice, with some taking the view that listening to music can distract from what is happening around them.
Others, however, insist that they are able to maintain awareness of their surroundings while wearing headphones, and that banning them would be similar to saying that deaf people are not allowed to ride bikes.
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.
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97 comments
In my opinion riding with headphones in is not a good idea.
Cyclists are vulnerable road users and deliberately taking one of your senses out of commission by blocking it off seems crazy to me. I'm of the same opinion for pedestrians as well.
Keep your headphones for the gym or the indoor trainer!
I wear headphones on every ride except when riding with others. I have a bar end mirror, I am always aware of my surroundings and I feel I zero impairment by listening to audiobooks or music whilst riding. I think riding defensively is far more important that whether or not you have headphones in.
IAM Roadsmart are actually pretty sensible when it comes to cycling so this is a comment out of step with their usual output. Here's their cycling policy statement
https://www.iamroadsmart.com/media-and-policy/research-and-policy/policy...
It completely fails to address the way modern cars isolate you from the outside world and bombard you with distraction (another area where they campaign and research) and also doesn't take into account other road users who can't hear - motorcyclists and hearing impaired people.
Back in the '80s I just shoved a tape deck in a musette and stuck the Smiths on.
Showing your age!
Personaly I "feel" safer being able to hear my surroundings 100% on the roads, I like music when I'm hammering around velodrome. I do go running with headphones and I seen this debate about the safety of runners too. Funny enough my stand on running with headphones was I am safer because I'm 100% reliant on what I see and will then double check before crossing road etc, not relying on hearing which can be very misleading. Cycling is different due to speed and needing to be more focused on what's in front. I can also hear a car that sounds like its approaching from behind too fast from a distance, large vehicle, or made aware of someone ready to do a dangerous pass etc. I can then do what I feel is necessary to keep me safe. But that's just me and I know motorcyclists who say they ride safer with earbuds and music but other road users will never know about that.
What do you do when you hear a car approaching too fast from behind, float, brace yourself, speed up to 50?
Aim to do a really well-timed bunny hop
Whatever evasive manoeuvre is available to you.
Sorry, but riding with cans or in ear monitors is suicide. Sure, the road safety charity is going for a pathetic easy win because it doesn't want to aggravate the cage lobby. But when it comes to hearing while riding, it's pragmatic self preservation. I have been warned of impending close pass stupidity a few times based on the engine noise of the vehicle behind (failing to slow for upcoming pinch point).
That's so ridiculous as to be way past hyperbole. Suicide by definition is killing yourself. You'd have to provide evidence as to how listening to music factors in road collisions regarding cyclists, and then compare that to the chance of collisions and deaths. I'd love to see it.
I rarely use headphones when cycling, but when I have I've had no issue hearing what's about me over what I'm listening to.
I never use headphones when walking, but that is at least partly due to not trusting others not to mug me from behind (paranoid, eh..). Can I infer that people who use headphones whilst walking want to be attacked/mugged/raped/murdered? Is it .... suicide?
You are welcome to engage in whatever legal behaviour you want. You are welcome not to make pragmatic choices for your own safety based on the hard reality of the situation (that the roads are filled with dangerous drivers who speed, pass too close, pull out in front of you because they've failed to see you and do all sorts of crap that your sense of hearing can aid in warning you of) if that satisfies your sense of idealism.
But in the event that something happens to any of you defending this practice specifically because you couldn't hear another person's dangerous manoeuvre, I assure you, it will be no comfort to you in your hospital bed. That's if you have the luxury of still being capable of cognition. You'll still be crippled or dead regardless of who was right or wrong.
Personally, I don't wish ever to have such regrets, and though I bitterly hate the scum drivers I see on a daily basis in this part of the world, I will continue to advocate taking every reasonable measure to ensure you don't become another damn statistic.
Also, regarding your last example: taking hyperbole literally ended your entire argument. "X is suicide" in this parlance implies that X is a dangerous and potentially life-ending risk - and that's absolutely correct. All you've done is take the literal meaning of "suicide" and run amok with it.
A self-defense instructor I knew explicitly stated on numerous occasions that walking around with both headphones in (head in the sand behaviour, as he'd term it) was risky behaviour outside.
Why thank you....
Read my post again
Again read the post. I was not "defending the practice" ( there is nothing that needs defending), I was attacking your victim-blaming, not to mention your conflation of suicide ( 18 deaths per day, and the biggest single killer of men under 45) with listening to music.
That sounds like an apologist's argument as to why cycling at all is a bad idea
That is known as showing you the mirror. It kind of worked, you saw how ridiculous your principle was. Now you just need to recognise it as your principle, not mine.
No, in this context it is ridiculous hyperbole
No, that was you
Read my post again
Ultimately what happened was you got butthurt that your ridiculous, victim-blaming hyperbole was called out, and are now whining that I (apparently) took you literally....
Bollocks.
What you really mean is: I don't feel safe wearing earbuds while riding.
And that's fine. I am scared of climbing on tall ladders or the roof of my house but lots of people do it with ease. Should I tell them they are suicidal and deserve to die for mending my ridge tiles or guttering?
It is far better that you don't project your own feelings and fears onto everyone else because we're all different - what we listen to and how loud, where we ride and how fast we go, our awareness levels etc etc.
So how many deaths and injuries on our roads are caused by riders wearing earbuds?
I see another person latched on to my use of the word "suicide" and failed to understand what "hyperbole" means or how broad its definition is.
As I said to the commenter above, do what you want. If you think that it's safe to neutralize one of the two key primary senses anyone riding a bike should have active given the type of drivers we have in the UK, do what you want. At the end of the day, it's not my ass on the line, it's yours.
It's a shame you didn't write your previous comment with that thought in mind.
By using hyperbole you make it much easier for people to misinterpret your comments, which is a shame as sites like this are usually better places to exhange ideas and draw on others' experience. If you just want to be flippant or vent your frustration then twitter is a better bet IME.
Just like not wearing a helmet?
No, just no.
In case you missed it, I actually support your viewpoint regarding the limited effectiveness of helmets. There is a world of difference between the helmet debate and removing one of the two primary senses that are used on the road.
Check my mirror to see what line the car is taking.
I would listen as it gets closer, assess wether it is slowing down or not, then I can move right over to the side of the road as it passes. With ear buds I would be completely unaware of the situation, could make me jump out my skin, which is a hazard, or I could get clipped by the wing mirror or worse! But thanks for the smart ass reply
Whether it is slowing doesn't tell you if it is passing too close so really you should either ride in the gutter continuously to avoid doubt... However, riding in the gutter is dangerous.
The point I am making is that fatalities happen due to the stupid action of drivers in almost all cases, wearing headphones or not will not change this!
Mac, see gutter point above, do you make eye contact with cars that are behind you (if not how does wearing headphones stop this) and taking a drink or stomping on the pedals is perfectly safe if the car is behaving correctly and/or you should look rather than rely on your ears!
No but if the car behind is still at high revs and not slowing down that gives you an indication that this is a driver that isnt going to respect you as a road user very much, and you best look to see if the opposite lane is clear to see if he even has the option to safely overtake or not, look to see if you have a verge or gap to move into and just move aside to let them pass. Making instant assesments and judments like this are what cyclist should be doing for the reasons you highlighted, drivers doing stupid things. It isnt safe or pleasant to ride in the gutter where the road is often in a bad way on many roads so would not suggest you stay there for longer than is necessary.
You can however hear a car behind that is obviously getting impateint and waiting to pass and may risk a dangerous overtake, then you can decide wether to take the centre of the road to prevent that or just move aside. If you cannot hear than you are not aware of either scenario and you are putting yourself at higher risk.
Now I'm confused, is it a driver going too fast or an inpatient driver? Should I abandon to the gutter or go further out into the road? Just how many times on an average ride do you perform such actions would you say?
Banning headphones on cyclists WILL NOT stop drivers of motor vehicles killing and injuring cyclists - focus on what will!
Oh dear, let's hope you not so easily confused when you are on the road. Good luck
Look at driver - making eye contact can be helpful sometimes; avoid moving out, taking a drink or standing in pedals. Move closer to kerb if possible. I think there are quite a lot of options available other than yours
I am with Duncan Dollimore on this - it's inadvisable. I wouldn't advise headphones or use them. Everything else he says is spot on as usual.
Mobile phones, blaring car stereos, satnavs, smoking, stuffing your face with sandwiches, crisps and chocolate, hot drinks, screaming kids in the back, annoyed wife in the front, other drivers who are too slow, too fast, too aggressive...idiots crossing the road whilst checking their phones (which seems obligatory these days)......?
Nope. Cyclists wearing earphones. This is the threat. This is what Neil Greig, Policy and Research Director at the road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has come up with. I'd say cut their funding but one of the small mercies of COVID is that there's no money left to donate to them.
Pure, unadulterated victim-blaming.
Neil Greig should stop spouting lies and bullshit and do his job.
Or perhaps he can explain how many of the 153,000 deaths and injuries on UK roads in 2019 were caused by cyclists with headphones or earbuds.
Or the 160,000 in 2018.
And why over 1,700 people die on the roads year after year after year... which would suggest that the effort made by road safety charities, the government and so on is utterly pointless.
(the numbers of course won't count all the crashes where an injury is not recorded or all the terrifying near misses, deliberate close passes etc that we all experience).
I always ride with earbuds so I can listen to podcasts. I never feel like it's an impairment as at low volumes I can still hear well. I guess I've gotten so used to it I don't see it as an issue.
Outrageous, prejudiced and an anti-cylist debate, singling out vulnerable groups and stinking ripe of VICTIM BLAMING.
And, all so dangerous callous motorists can have their own way without impediment, responsibility or penalty for their mischief maniac driving habbits.
Next they'll be debating wether deaf or those with hearing impediment should at all be using public roads.
Is it NOT time for a worldwide debate, rather than turning a blind eye, on dangerous motorists, with their vast number of known distractions and constant excuses used in their defence, having had crashed and harmed or killed innocent people?
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