Driving with headphones on

I thought it was against the law, but I see it all around me daily.

Seems dangerous.. and much more worthy of target enforcement than say, moderate speeding.

It was in the 1960s.

What you are likely seeing are not just headphones, but hands-free units for mobiles. It may be against the law not to use them, if you're taking a call on your cell.

Passed a woman in a miata this weekend on the high way. Top down with headphones/earmuffs on.

I think a lot of people are listening to music on their phones, and to me it seems pretty dangerous and stupid if they can't hear emergency vehicles.

In reply to fritzsch:

Yould be lucky to hear an emergency vehicle in most modern cars.

fritzsch wrote: I think a lot of people are listening to music on their phones, and to me it seems pretty dangerous and stupid if they can't hear emergency vehicles.

qft

I think to legally use a headphone, only one ear can be covered.

No.

No, I don't like it.

No.

I am sure specific laws depend on the state. Headphone laws go back to the appearance of the Walkman.

With most any kind of modern car and sound system, this is a bit of a mute point and there really is almost no need for headphones.

I see it daily, and no, it's not mobile phones, it's iPods or music from the phone or whatever. Even in closed cars with the windows up.

I should have gotten over crap like this years ago, but it still astounds me how willing people are to compromise their own situational awareness, even when it is their own safety on the line.

In reply to aircooled:

Usually, the folks I see wearing headphones aren't in a modern (read: reliable) car, and one can assume the sound system is therefore nonoperational.

heck, it annoys me when I see people walking around with headphones on.. I cannot understand how they would compromise their ability to hear and react to an emergency (or even just a friend yelling at them) for the sake of music

mad_machine wrote: heck, it annoys me when I see people walking around with headphones on.. I cannot understand how they would compromise their ability to hear and react to an emergency (or even just a friend yelling at them) for the sake of music

Some of us have no friends to yell at us

I'd never do it. I didn't even do it when I had sportbike when many friends did.

I want to hear everything going on around me.

mad_machine wrote: heck, it annoys me when I see people walking around with headphones on.. I cannot understand how they would compromise their ability to hear and react to an emergency (or even just a friend yelling at them) for the sake of music

Many headphones don't block out the ambient. Heck, the apple ear buds that most people see don't block out all of the ambient. I use those running, and it's pretty easy to hear a car from behind- just the tire sounds.

Not to say that everyone uses headphones that allow good ambient sound.

Also- a regular subject on the Miata boards- do you wear ear plugs when you have the top down?

alfadriver wrote: Also- a regular subject on the Miata boards- do you wear ear plugs when you have the top down?

Nope.

fritzsch wrote: I think a lot of people are listening to music on their phones, and to me it seems pretty dangerous and stupid if they can't hear emergency vehicles.

Well, maybe, but the stock stereo in all three of my cars is easily loud enough to drown out sirens, so...

Funny, i was just thinking about asking about this. Stereo in the Miata is not near enough to overcome the noise of the car, and i don't want to spend the money on a loud stereo in a track car. I have a phone, and earbuds.

aircooled wrote: I am sure specific laws depend on the state. Headphone laws go back to the appearance of the Walkman. With most any kind of modern car and sound system, this is a bit of a mute point and there really is almost no need for headphones.

color me confused by this reply, even if I substitute the word moot for mute.

Are you saying modern cars are practically soundproofed?

OHSCrifle wrote: I thought it was against the law, but I see it all around me daily. Seems dangerous.. and much more worthy of target enforcement than say, moderate speeding.

It's legal to drive while deaf. It's legal to drive cars with the windows rolled up, which is damn near the same thing as driving with earmuffs, nowadays.

I personally think it shouldn't be illegal to wear hearing protection while driving (headphones are kinda hearing protection, earbuds aren't, but earbuds are only for people who are "failure at life" enthusiasts who probably whine that their half-caf frappuchino had whole milk in it when they specifically requested locally-grown organic almond milk, so their opinions don't count)

I like this video: I drove for 16 (I think) hours with earmuffs on. I would not have been an alert driver without them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBUbqdxJFg4

That's what it sounded like without 'muffs. With them, all that high pitch noise was attenuated.

Swank Force One wrote: Funny, i was just thinking about asking about this. Stereo in the Miata is not near enough to overcome the noise of the car, and i don't want to spend the money on a loud stereo in a track car. I have a phone, and earbuds.

In that situation, I'd probably go with one ear bud.

fritzsch wrote: I think a lot of people are listening to music on their phones, and to me it seems pretty dangerous and stupid if they can't hear emergency vehicles.

You'd be surprised what you can't hear sometimes. Usually, if you're driving, you can't hear emergency vehicles until they are passing you. That is why checking your mirrors every five seconds is important.

Minor confession: I nearly changed lanes into a motorcyclist last year. I passed him, but he accelerated at nearly the same time and was parked in my blind spot. Something happened to the right of me and I tried to do an emergency lane change and he honked his little bike-horn when he saw my signal as I started moving over. I DID hear that, barely.

alfadriver wrote: Many headphones don't block out the ambient. Heck, the apple ear buds that most people see don't block out all of the ambient. I use those running, and it's pretty easy to hear a car from behind- just the tire sounds. Not to say that everyone uses headphones that allow good ambient sound. Also- a regular subject on the Miata boards- do you wear ear plugs when you have the top down?

When I port, instead of earmuffs, I wear studio headphones. They do an awesome job of blocking out noise when you have music going. (My current bridge port was done to The Kleptones' Uptime album. My old street port was done to Fear Factory, mostly Remanufacture)

Hell, I am wearing them right now. I am not listening to anything, but the neighbor has a habit of being outside and talking to his wife or daughter or sometimes he just calls his cat and even without music playing they blot out the audio world nicely.

I spent about 8 hours in a Miata on the highway this weekend, first real road time I've had in one. Was definitely wishing for muffs. The wind noise is brutal even with a hardtop. It's not as bad as listening to 13B blAAAAAAAAAAT but it's still fatiguing. Alert drivers are safe drivers and fatigued drivers are inattentive drivers.

My post was about audio headphones attached to a phone or ipod.

Noise protection really never occured to me.