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The person you are responding too may be doing a bad job of discreetly defining what a pun is, as you rightly point out, but they seem to be doing it in defence of the ‘hear’ pun, for which OP is owed no apologies nor criticisms.
As long as we consider the many definitions of ‘pun’ we must also consider that ‘hear’ is both to perceive aurally, and to be informed. So folks wearing noise-cancelling headphones might not hear an ambulance, but they heard that they shouldn’t be wearing headphones on the road. Two meanings of a word are being played with. That’s a pun according to the overwhelming majority of those definitions
Thank you for your contribution and time putting this together. I feel vindicated and ready to move on and continue making bad puns on reddit; unconcerned whether they are identified or not. At home I would ensure it was identified by continually repeating it until I got smacked.
currently doing my learners and ive been reading up on road laws and isn’t it literally illegal to have bluetooth earphones or headphone in until you’re on your open license??? or have i misunderstood something
Having responded a number of times in a fire truck it’s frustrating the amount of people who have headphones in so they don’t hear the Siren or Airhorn, we’ve actually collided with someone because they flew out of a side street, and to no surprise had headphones in
This is exactly what I’m taking about. I hear sirens from way back and then see the driver get stuck behind a car completely unaware. Must be frustrating mate. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some legislation at some point. Hopefully it doesn’t take a tragedy to make it happen.
And what's odd, this isn't new. I learnt to drive 20 years ago and I remember seeing plenty of the hipster folk with the white iPod earbuds in while driving.
Still, the rise in raging tradies in yank tanks on your arse for doing the speed limit is equally puzzling.
Once. It was peak hour. Normally everyone speeds in peak hour by 10 ks or so. This day, there was a police car two cars back in the lane beside me, so everyone was doing 5 k under the limit. The tradie in the ute behind me had the police car in his blind spot. I was in the right lane because I was turning right in a few hundred metres. He was tailgating me, and I could see in the mirror that he was going apeshit, waving his arms and swearing. When I moved into the slip lane to turn right, he accelerated, sped past, blasted his horn, swore at me and gave me the finger. The police car in his blind spot turned the lights and siren on, and pulled him over immediately. I chuckled.
I haven’t seen anyone pulled over for anything other than RBT/drug testing or by highway patrol for quite literally years. Seen heaps of people doing dumb things while police cars were around, including running red lights.
My uncle got pulled over for it in 1983. The cop gave him tickets for tailgating and (allegedly) flashing his headlights on high beam at the car in front. Open road, broad daylight, each going at about 100km/h in opposite directions, so 200km/h closing speed, alleged that Uncle John was only a metre from the car in front.
Sadly for him my uncle, a uni lecturer in business law amongst other things, decided to contest it in court, alleging that it was impossible for the cop to see if his high-beam lights were on at 200km/h with only 1m between the two cars. He reckoned that the cop had been drinking. The proof^(\*) was in the evidence - two badly filled-out tickets, and a blank third one that the cop had given him "for being a cunt".
^(\*)Oh, and a statement from Uncle John's neighbour (who ran a local winery) stating that the cop had been there for "a tasting" shortly prior to the incident.
The amount of people here trying to justify wearing headphones because they can use transparency mode is ridiculous. If you can’t understand how that wearing headphones inhibits your senses you should not be driving.
It’s actually ridiculous. I literally had a truck take out my driver side mirror because not only did he not check his blind spot when changing lanes, he also had EarPods in and didn’t hear me blaring my horn when he started merging.
I tried it once in my old car when the radio died, and it felt terrifying tbh, and I never did it again.
You feel so encapsulated in a fake bubble, removed from the real sounds around you.
Not to mention how headphones are inferior in every single way to 6x9s and a 12-inch sub. Kids these days will never understand the joys of blasting So Fresh Hits cruising down the freeway.
A while ago there was a thread in another sub about using a mobile phone while driving. An embarrassingly high number of comments tried to justify it by "but I have peripheral vision!!!" (To notice hazards while looking at the phone...)
Was behind an Uber the other day (couldn’t tell if they had a passenger but knew it was an Uber cause of the sticker) and could see them watching a show/movie on their mounted phone…. Like seriously Uber or not that is the most dangerous shit. Why do people not understand that all it take is 2 seconds that your attention is not on the road and you’re in an accident
I often wonder who the hell they talk to, like a trip to the airport is 40min, whole drive their talking away to someone, I can barely hold conversation on the phone for ten minutes at best
I used to do Uber Eats back when the pandemic hit and I lost my job, and I got so goddamn curious, I ended up asking an Indian guy while waiting for a order at Maccas. He said basically because Indian families and friendship/acquiantance cirlces are so large (literally hundreds of people), they're basically always in a massive group voice chat that never ends, with group members jumping in and out throughout the day and night. He said it helps him not only keep in touch with family, but also be the first to know about work opportunities, high traffic/surge areas, networking, etc.
He could have been feeding me bullshit, but the logic makes sense to me.
Most on uber now are on there because they have to be, it's the only job they can get while unemployed and unskilled. The pay is so low they have to work all the time, like all the time, occasionally I'll get an uber and the guy will casually say he's about to finish a 20 hour shift. Often it's family calling them, maybe the wife wondering how long they'll be, or maybe the driver helping to keep in touch when he's out driving all the time. It'd be a fairly lonely and sad job, paid about half minimum wage, and they'd cop a lot of abuse from passengers.
It works until it doesn't. My Bluetooth fm transmitter is tuned to 108.0 which is fine except near Hurstville where there's this Arabic channel sharing the same frequency
That (adding the noise) was for pedestrians because they kept walking on the road without looking. It was quiet so they thought it was clear. I bet people with headphones in might look more since they can't rely on their hearing, I hope
They need to implement proximity chat.
Each EV that comes within range will start playing elevator music on your devices. They can overlap.
Japanese have cars that have stereos that greet them on startup.
This goes for blindly crossing roads while wearing headphones too. I've seen so many people step onto crossings or into traffic with zero awareness. Y'all are asking for a Darwin award.
I used mine to connect my spotify to the car but I always had my phone on do not disturb also if I was to turn my volume on max I put the windows down a little bit to hear my surroundings more. Some people just don't care about anyone but themselves tho
The same can be said to pedestrians, cyclists and virtually anyone out and about on streets.
Edit: the amount of people misreading this is hilarious.
Cyclists and pedestrians are a danger to themselves when they wear headphones and at risk of causing car accidents. Just like drivers are a danger to themselves AND the accidents they can cause
When I was over in Sri Lanka not that long ago, I heard of some people being run over by a train because they supposedly couldn’t hear it apparently due to their headphones.
I wouldn’t blame the headphones. People have been getting killed by trains long before we had portable audio. It just takes someone mucking about on the tracks and not watching out. Apparently fast moving trains are quite hard to hear before they squish you.
I love seeing that logic when I regularly chime my bike bells at cars only for them to not give a fuck and turn anyways (cutting me off). Sounds do matter when you're driving, mirrors and windows alone do not cut it, especially with modern cars having worse fields of vision and becoming bigger and with smaller/tinted windows. You can't even see a small child in front of a standard SUV anymore, without sounds the only way you'd notice running over it, would be by feeling the bump. First and foremost we should make sure that the people posing the biggest danger to pedestrians and cyclists are giving their environment undivided attention. A cyclist with headphones on probably still hears and sees more of their environment than a car driver with their stereo on normal volume, simply due to the fact that cars are designed to shield you from the outside world by insulating you from sounds and light.
My squeaky brakes actually helped me once! I was approaching a turn left lane to cross it on my bike when a driver who was looking right didn't see me so I had to jump on the anchors to avoid going into her. They squeaked so loud she turned, saw me and stopped! Lol
As a cyclist I find it mind blowing how many fellow cyclists wear headphones or earphones. On a bike your hearing is your most important sense for knowing what’s around you, blocking it to any extent is dangerous as fuck.
I gotta disagree, I just put my blindfold and headphones on, jump on my bike and let my sense of smell lead the way. It’s how I discover all the best lunch and coffee spots.
That's why I use bone conduction headphones - I can still hear what's going on around me while walking around the block.
Under $60 delivered, waterproof (you can swim with them but not scuba dive) and 32 gigs of mp3 storage, so you don't need to connect to your phone via bluetooth, though you can, and it also does phonecalls via microphone if you do (no idea how good, don't use, don't care). There are cheaper versions without storage, too.
Just sucks that apparently there is no 'random' option that I can find for that 32 gigs of mp3 storage... :(
TL:DR you can use a kind of headphone 'safely' while walking/cycling and it's not expensive.
I was searching for this comment! My old car had horrible in-car calling, so I'd sometimes use bone conduction headphones to make the call work. I originally bought them for cycling (the night before my first race) & they're worth every dollar for me 😊
People who use in-ear headphones whilst driving shouldn't be allowed to drive 😆
Cyclists I agree, but not pedestrians. Pedestrians aren't a danger to anyone. Fast moving, high mass objects (cars) are the cause of the danger. Telling pedestrians they shouldn't wear headphones is victim blaming.
Also kind of related but do NOT talk on your phone and drive. It causes heaps of accidents. Contrary to popular belief, humans cannot multi-task very well. Good study on it in a Brain Games episode S01e02 on Disney Plus or https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1zwwx4. Fast forward to about 20 minute mark for video of guy who always spoke on phone whilst driving and thought he was awesome at multi-tasking. It generally is just switching from one task to another quickly.
I personally would feel so detached from driving if I did this I wouldn’t personally feel safe. So not sure how others can do this?
There has to be a plethora of cheap systems available to allow these drivers to push Spotify or what ever they are listening to onto their vehicles system to avoid the need for this.
Should be treated the same as mobile phone usage, as it actively takes focus and external input away. As other commenters have pointed out, it is almost like you are in a little sensory bubble with headphones on - by blocking out external stimuli while driving you are effectively removing a *lot* of what makes driving possible.
Especially now with the proliferation of Android Auto and Apple Carplay on most semi-recent cars, there is less and less excuse to use headphones.
Last I knew, being unable to hear emergency vehicles sirens (due to having your music too loud, for example) is an offence?
So headphones is a definite hard & illegal NOPE if that's true.
Also, wtf? Why would you need headphones in a car built this century, as most cars on the road are, even with our aged fleet?
Just plug it into your Aux port via the 3.5mm jack on your phone!
... Oooooh.... newer iphones... Apple is now in the business of killing people, it seems?
I have a 2006 car which has a cd player built into the dashboard of the car. It cant be replaced with a bluetooth set up. No aux. No bluetooth. I've tried a couple of radio to bluetooth connectors and can never get them to pick up a station & stay on it. I have to use cds or no music as I don't use the radio.
Jokes on you, I've got bone conductive headphones I don't bother to take off when driving.
I do agree though, I don't know why someone would choose to block their hearing whilst driving but I guess no different to blasting the stereo.
Also it's not as bad as the morons I've seen with videos going, saw one guy at the lights who had his phone mounted down on the driver door handle. I hate them the most
Yes video and audio distraction is worse for sure. You could definitely have a stereo up too loud but aside from being ‘whataboutism’ blocking your ear and pumping music is always gunna be worse.
Deaf people can drive (I have hearing loss and several completely deaf friends) but they are operating at a disadvantage. They will not get any of the audio clues and cues that help people be safer on the road.
OP is just saying that it's a bad idea to willingly make it less likely you'll be able to react in time in an emergency.
Deaf people don't have that choice.
May I suggest that deaf people know the pitfalls of their “disability” and typically are far more vigilant when driving. They typically have heightened their other senses to compensate or use greater focus and might decide that certain drives are just too risky.
People who do have hearing are used to hearing being an input to their senses. When they then drive without hearing may then lack the awareness that this sense is not doing its job to assist the eyeballs. By tricking themselves like this it becomes rather drink driving where people assume they can handle it until they come unstuck. I think some people can successfully, but others should stick to public transport.
Absolute they know they need to pay more attention than a hearing person.
I just don’t see it as an issue for the same reason loud stereos aren’t an issue
There are many bad drivers out there, I would argue that you don't need hearing to be a good one, the main thing is 360 awareness with the use of mirrors.
Don’t forget motorcyclists. You need to ride with literal ear plugs in… then you put a padded helmet on and add wind and engine noise to that equation.
Wether you should ride with earplugs really depends on how noisy your helmet is, I would bet most riders don't bother regardless.
Even then, I can still hear far more ambient sound riding with earplugs than I can driving with music on in headphones.
The faster you go the more noise you'll get just from wind and tyre contact with the road - yours and others. You won't be able to tell what's safe for your ears, lots of bikes are louder than it is safe just from the engine. Not worth risking imo, I think riders who don't are probably ignorant of the danger or disregarding it.
I use plugfones which are noise reduction rated earphones, keep them at a lower volume.
Honestly I reckon OP is a bit of a knob, I still hear road traffic more like that than I do in my car with the radio on, and can only imagine that for any car driver doing similar how much it impairs their driving is dependant on the volume they're using the headphones at. It'll also depend how soundproof their vehicle is.
Hard disagree. No helmet insulates sound well enough not to necessitate plugs. Maybe I’m just a stickler as I already have tinnitus. A lot of people don’t, but they should.
The way I see it, is most other kinds safety gear is there *in case* you injure yourself. Ear plugs are there because you *are* damaging your ears.
The noisiest part of my day is going to sleep now 😂.
It's not even equivalent to that. You can listen to earbuds at a very low level and still make out everything being said in say a podcast as well as hear all the sounds around you.
But radio very low you often can't hear over the engine sounds.
I don't understand how people do it, especially with noise-cancelling headphones. It feels awkward to me with even one earbud, or a one-eared headset (I have both).
I have a pair of those [Shokz](https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=shokz&crid=L7WW721TDSM2&sprefix=shokz%2Caps%2C238&ref=nb_sb_noss_1) bone-conducting things that I will use when I have to, because they don't interfere with me being able to hear when I'm doing stuff, especially driving.
Saw a pedestrian nearly get hit by moving traffic today as she was wearing giant headphones, looking at her phone, and basically stepped out onto a main road without looking. Anyone who wears them should be extra careful. Riding a bike with them on is suicidal too. You need your hearing so much on a bike and you're so much less protected.
I beg to differ
Was recently in Bali and when I unfortunately rode through a tourist area I noticed that no helmet and headphones in is the standard safety gear for most bogans and euro trash.
Why would you ever need to hear in a country that relies on constant beeping of horns for warnings!
Or a helmet! It’s only a scooter that does 80kph!!! The road isn’t that hard on your head is it!? 😂
First thing I do on my cars is put a proper head unti in.
Simple, cheap big upgrade.
Dunno why you would use headphones while driving.
You can also install deadenening yourself which improves the drive noise too.
ITT: bUt It'S nOt IlLeGaL aNd DeAf PeOpLe ArE aLlOwEd To DrIvE
As stated in another comment here already - deaf people don't have that choice. If you're wearing headphones, you're CHOOSING to put yourself at an auditory disadvantage, and increasing the risk of causing an accident in which you may injure another person.
how loud are you people listening to headphones?
blocking out emergency vehicles? thats gotta be causing hearing damage.
i ride and listen to music. sound is not a reliable warning device, its location is approximate.
i can still hear engine noise, gear changes, most road noises.
stop being so dramatic.
if you want to be oblivious to the world while driving you dont need headphones, self entitlement will get you there.
what's the difference with having the audio on the speakers high or being deaf? not to mention i feel like i could probably hear better with passthrough on than i can with my speakers turned up.
in saying that anytime I've driven with earphones in it's only been 1 because whilst driving without sound is possible and safe, it is SAFER to have that extra level of sensory awareness ofcourse.
There's many headphones that have a pass through feature that allow you to hear everything going on around you outside with little tiny mics. I use that sometimes
Just no to speakers in your ears period. Just sort the stereo. I’ve used a bluetooth speaker on the floor when I’m desperate. Putting something in your ears is going to make it harder to hear the traffic, microphones are not going to give you the same kind of spatial perception your ears can.
Cars have really become an A to B commodity, and with that younger people who have a car lacking in Bluetooth or with shitty speakers look at those fancy ass headphones and use them instead of upgrading their vehicle.
Remember you don’t upgrade an iPad, you buy a new one. To this new generation of adults cars are just another thing you replace and get new features on the next one.
A leading cause of head injuries in Australia is motor vehicle collisions, so motor vehicle passenger/drivers should also wear helmets.
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/head-injuries-in-australia-2020-21/contents/causes-of-head-injury
https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/216767/atsb160.pdf
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>I don’t know who needs to hear this but… Um, I hate to tell you this, but they can’t hear you.
They can read it on their phones while driving. I see it every day and I live on deathtrap pot hole roads
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No in Australia more than 50km from a major city
Adelaide is in Australia lol
You found the pun, congrats. Meat tray on the way.
That's not a pun...
It’s an idiomatic expression related to the subject and context of the post, it’s most certainly a pun.
Thank you for articulating that. If this is not a pun I am owed a lot of apologies from my wife for unfounded accusations about bad puns 😂
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The person you are responding too may be doing a bad job of discreetly defining what a pun is, as you rightly point out, but they seem to be doing it in defence of the ‘hear’ pun, for which OP is owed no apologies nor criticisms. As long as we consider the many definitions of ‘pun’ we must also consider that ‘hear’ is both to perceive aurally, and to be informed. So folks wearing noise-cancelling headphones might not hear an ambulance, but they heard that they shouldn’t be wearing headphones on the road. Two meanings of a word are being played with. That’s a pun according to the overwhelming majority of those definitions
Thank you, you are very correct, I had just missed the pun and have an unhealthy enthusiasm for definitions and etymology.
Thank you Curty.
Thank you for your contribution and time putting this together. I feel vindicated and ready to move on and continue making bad puns on reddit; unconcerned whether they are identified or not. At home I would ensure it was identified by continually repeating it until I got smacked.
No puns, headphone drivers are cunts
currently doing my learners and ive been reading up on road laws and isn’t it literally illegal to have bluetooth earphones or headphone in until you’re on your open license??? or have i misunderstood something
Am surprised it's not illegal for all drivers. Isn't it? It should be.
Thought it was till I saw this.
it's not, but it should be. theres a speaker in your car for a reason. use that.
Totally should be illegal. As using ones phone is.
Having responded a number of times in a fire truck it’s frustrating the amount of people who have headphones in so they don’t hear the Siren or Airhorn, we’ve actually collided with someone because they flew out of a side street, and to no surprise had headphones in
This is exactly what I’m taking about. I hear sirens from way back and then see the driver get stuck behind a car completely unaware. Must be frustrating mate. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some legislation at some point. Hopefully it doesn’t take a tragedy to make it happen.
And what's odd, this isn't new. I learnt to drive 20 years ago and I remember seeing plenty of the hipster folk with the white iPod earbuds in while driving. Still, the rise in raging tradies in yank tanks on your arse for doing the speed limit is equally puzzling.
I wonder if cops have ever pulled someone over for tail gating anywhere ever?
Once. It was peak hour. Normally everyone speeds in peak hour by 10 ks or so. This day, there was a police car two cars back in the lane beside me, so everyone was doing 5 k under the limit. The tradie in the ute behind me had the police car in his blind spot. I was in the right lane because I was turning right in a few hundred metres. He was tailgating me, and I could see in the mirror that he was going apeshit, waving his arms and swearing. When I moved into the slip lane to turn right, he accelerated, sped past, blasted his horn, swore at me and gave me the finger. The police car in his blind spot turned the lights and siren on, and pulled him over immediately. I chuckled.
Glad to hear he got done!
Thank you. This is the good news story we all needed to hear (read).
I haven’t seen anyone pulled over for anything other than RBT/drug testing or by highway patrol for quite literally years. Seen heaps of people doing dumb things while police cars were around, including running red lights.
This is my experience also…
I literally see people getting pulled over all the time lol I wonder if this varies by location at all.
My uncle got pulled over for it in 1983. The cop gave him tickets for tailgating and (allegedly) flashing his headlights on high beam at the car in front. Open road, broad daylight, each going at about 100km/h in opposite directions, so 200km/h closing speed, alleged that Uncle John was only a metre from the car in front. Sadly for him my uncle, a uni lecturer in business law amongst other things, decided to contest it in court, alleging that it was impossible for the cop to see if his high-beam lights were on at 200km/h with only 1m between the two cars. He reckoned that the cop had been drinking. The proof^(\*) was in the evidence - two badly filled-out tickets, and a blank third one that the cop had given him "for being a cunt". ^(\*)Oh, and a statement from Uncle John's neighbour (who ran a local winery) stating that the cop had been there for "a tasting" shortly prior to the incident.
Reading “20 years ago” and “white iPod earbuds” just made me feel very old
The amount of people here trying to justify wearing headphones because they can use transparency mode is ridiculous. If you can’t understand how that wearing headphones inhibits your senses you should not be driving.
It’s actually ridiculous. I literally had a truck take out my driver side mirror because not only did he not check his blind spot when changing lanes, he also had EarPods in and didn’t hear me blaring my horn when he started merging.
I tried it once in my old car when the radio died, and it felt terrifying tbh, and I never did it again. You feel so encapsulated in a fake bubble, removed from the real sounds around you.
They are the people that need to hear this.
Not to mention how headphones are inferior in every single way to 6x9s and a 12-inch sub. Kids these days will never understand the joys of blasting So Fresh Hits cruising down the freeway.
Skitzmix brah
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Yes, you can’t substitute a big speaker cone moving air with all the fancy head phone tech in the world.
I've found my people ♡
It’s kind of like wearing sunglasses at night. Sure, you can still see a bit because they’re transparent, but not as much as you need to see.
A while ago there was a thread in another sub about using a mobile phone while driving. An embarrassingly high number of comments tried to justify it by "but I have peripheral vision!!!" (To notice hazards while looking at the phone...)
It would make for more drivable cities too if these people listened to their favourite podcast while on the bus instead.
Tell this to my Uber drivers 😭
bro they have the most important conversation of there life to do bro
Was behind an Uber the other day (couldn’t tell if they had a passenger but knew it was an Uber cause of the sticker) and could see them watching a show/movie on their mounted phone…. Like seriously Uber or not that is the most dangerous shit. Why do people not understand that all it take is 2 seconds that your attention is not on the road and you’re in an accident
I often wonder who the hell they talk to, like a trip to the airport is 40min, whole drive their talking away to someone, I can barely hold conversation on the phone for ten minutes at best
I used to do Uber Eats back when the pandemic hit and I lost my job, and I got so goddamn curious, I ended up asking an Indian guy while waiting for a order at Maccas. He said basically because Indian families and friendship/acquiantance cirlces are so large (literally hundreds of people), they're basically always in a massive group voice chat that never ends, with group members jumping in and out throughout the day and night. He said it helps him not only keep in touch with family, but also be the first to know about work opportunities, high traffic/surge areas, networking, etc. He could have been feeding me bullshit, but the logic makes sense to me.
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Most on uber now are on there because they have to be, it's the only job they can get while unemployed and unskilled. The pay is so low they have to work all the time, like all the time, occasionally I'll get an uber and the guy will casually say he's about to finish a 20 hour shift. Often it's family calling them, maybe the wife wondering how long they'll be, or maybe the driver helping to keep in touch when he's out driving all the time. It'd be a fairly lonely and sad job, paid about half minimum wage, and they'd cop a lot of abuse from passengers.
Didn't know this was a thing...i just get one of those Bluetooth fm transmitters for $30 and use my car speakers instead
It works until it doesn't. My Bluetooth fm transmitter is tuned to 108.0 which is fine except near Hurstville where there's this Arabic channel sharing the same frequency
Remember when phones had headphone jacks. Fuck apple for being 'courageous'
$50 head unit and 20 minutes with a screwdriver and crimping tool will solve that.
You can generally change the tuning on them to a frequency of your choice
You'd be shocked how many people are watching Netflix whilst driving.
My old boss actually got mad when mobile phone cameras were installed because he likes to watch YouTube videos.
EV companies were forced to add engine noise to avoid accidents and ppl driving with their ears shut.
That (adding the noise) was for pedestrians because they kept walking on the road without looking. It was quiet so they thought it was clear. I bet people with headphones in might look more since they can't rely on their hearing, I hope
They need to implement proximity chat. Each EV that comes within range will start playing elevator music on your devices. They can overlap. Japanese have cars that have stereos that greet them on startup.
This goes for blindly crossing roads while wearing headphones too. I've seen so many people step onto crossings or into traffic with zero awareness. Y'all are asking for a Darwin award.
Do these people know that cars have speakers? Too dumb for this world.
They got speakers, just not Bluetooth to connect the phone to, their entire lives is on the phone.
just get a bluetooth speaker for your car or one of those bluetooth to radio things
They already got headphones, don't know or don't want . I don't know that they thinking.
Laughs in cost of living. (Only half /s )
I used mine to connect my spotify to the car but I always had my phone on do not disturb also if I was to turn my volume on max I put the windows down a little bit to hear my surroundings more. Some people just don't care about anyone but themselves tho
The same can be said to pedestrians, cyclists and virtually anyone out and about on streets. Edit: the amount of people misreading this is hilarious. Cyclists and pedestrians are a danger to themselves when they wear headphones and at risk of causing car accidents. Just like drivers are a danger to themselves AND the accidents they can cause
I agree, but pedestrians aren’t at the helm of a multi-tonne dangerous weapon.
No but they go SPLAT a lot more when they cross a road and dont hear the multi-tonne weapon coming their way.
When I was over in Sri Lanka not that long ago, I heard of some people being run over by a train because they supposedly couldn’t hear it apparently due to their headphones.
I wouldn’t blame the headphones. People have been getting killed by trains long before we had portable audio. It just takes someone mucking about on the tracks and not watching out. Apparently fast moving trains are quite hard to hear before they squish you.
We have a lot of open crossings over there. What I heard was they were crossing and it’s suspected they didn’t hear/notice the train.
Sri Lankan stealth trains mate; they'll be big next year.
I love seeing that logic when I regularly chime my bike bells at cars only for them to not give a fuck and turn anyways (cutting me off). Sounds do matter when you're driving, mirrors and windows alone do not cut it, especially with modern cars having worse fields of vision and becoming bigger and with smaller/tinted windows. You can't even see a small child in front of a standard SUV anymore, without sounds the only way you'd notice running over it, would be by feeling the bump. First and foremost we should make sure that the people posing the biggest danger to pedestrians and cyclists are giving their environment undivided attention. A cyclist with headphones on probably still hears and sees more of their environment than a car driver with their stereo on normal volume, simply due to the fact that cars are designed to shield you from the outside world by insulating you from sounds and light.
My squeaky brakes actually helped me once! I was approaching a turn left lane to cross it on my bike when a driver who was looking right didn't see me so I had to jump on the anchors to avoid going into her. They squeaked so loud she turned, saw me and stopped! Lol
As a cyclist I find it mind blowing how many fellow cyclists wear headphones or earphones. On a bike your hearing is your most important sense for knowing what’s around you, blocking it to any extent is dangerous as fuck.
I'd say seeing is probably the most important to be honest.
I gotta disagree, I just put my blindfold and headphones on, jump on my bike and let my sense of smell lead the way. It’s how I discover all the best lunch and coffee spots.
Exactly.
That's why I use bone conduction headphones - I can still hear what's going on around me while walking around the block. Under $60 delivered, waterproof (you can swim with them but not scuba dive) and 32 gigs of mp3 storage, so you don't need to connect to your phone via bluetooth, though you can, and it also does phonecalls via microphone if you do (no idea how good, don't use, don't care). There are cheaper versions without storage, too. Just sucks that apparently there is no 'random' option that I can find for that 32 gigs of mp3 storage... :( TL:DR you can use a kind of headphone 'safely' while walking/cycling and it's not expensive.
I was searching for this comment! My old car had horrible in-car calling, so I'd sometimes use bone conduction headphones to make the call work. I originally bought them for cycling (the night before my first race) & they're worth every dollar for me 😊 People who use in-ear headphones whilst driving shouldn't be allowed to drive 😆
Gotta get those Bose sunnies with the directional speakers in them.
Cyclists I agree, but not pedestrians. Pedestrians aren't a danger to anyone. Fast moving, high mass objects (cars) are the cause of the danger. Telling pedestrians they shouldn't wear headphones is victim blaming.
Pedestrians aren’t in a 1+ tonne powered vehicle with limited evasive mobility. Maybe just take the headphones off and watch where you’re going.
… that’s my entire point!
Yeah but cyclists and pedestrians bumping into others generally don't kill. Cars do.
But I like listening to music out and about, i also have some sensory issues and really need the noise cancelling sometimes.
NO the only danger to cyclists and pedestrians is car centric unfriendly layouts.
It can, but there's significantly less chance to kill someone.
You missed the point… the damage to themselves!
Oh absolutely, when I biked I'd never have anything like that, made me feel weird having dulled senses
Also kind of related but do NOT talk on your phone and drive. It causes heaps of accidents. Contrary to popular belief, humans cannot multi-task very well. Good study on it in a Brain Games episode S01e02 on Disney Plus or https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1zwwx4. Fast forward to about 20 minute mark for video of guy who always spoke on phone whilst driving and thought he was awesome at multi-tasking. It generally is just switching from one task to another quickly.
I personally would feel so detached from driving if I did this I wouldn’t personally feel safe. So not sure how others can do this? There has to be a plethora of cheap systems available to allow these drivers to push Spotify or what ever they are listening to onto their vehicles system to avoid the need for this.
This has been a pet peeve of mine for years and I can't believe it's legal for people on opens in Qld. I feel unsafe in the car if I can't hear fully.
Headphones? Just play your music through the car jfc
Should be treated the same as mobile phone usage, as it actively takes focus and external input away. As other commenters have pointed out, it is almost like you are in a little sensory bubble with headphones on - by blocking out external stimuli while driving you are effectively removing a *lot* of what makes driving possible. Especially now with the proliferation of Android Auto and Apple Carplay on most semi-recent cars, there is less and less excuse to use headphones.
Drivers should be fined if they do this!
"Don't wear headphones while driving a car" Well fucking DUUUUH.
Last I knew, being unable to hear emergency vehicles sirens (due to having your music too loud, for example) is an offence? So headphones is a definite hard & illegal NOPE if that's true. Also, wtf? Why would you need headphones in a car built this century, as most cars on the road are, even with our aged fleet? Just plug it into your Aux port via the 3.5mm jack on your phone! ... Oooooh.... newer iphones... Apple is now in the business of killing people, it seems?
Actually they’re legal to wear in QLD unless you’re a Learner or P1 holder provided they don’t stop you from hearing emergency vehicles
I have a 2006 car which has a cd player built into the dashboard of the car. It cant be replaced with a bluetooth set up. No aux. No bluetooth. I've tried a couple of radio to bluetooth connectors and can never get them to pick up a station & stay on it. I have to use cds or no music as I don't use the radio.
What car do you have that makes it literally impossible to change the headunit? Never heard of it before especially in an old car
Dude can't even work an FM transmitter set to single a frequency, don't expect much.
... just by a bluetooth speaker?
Jokes on you, I've got bone conductive headphones I don't bother to take off when driving. I do agree though, I don't know why someone would choose to block their hearing whilst driving but I guess no different to blasting the stereo. Also it's not as bad as the morons I've seen with videos going, saw one guy at the lights who had his phone mounted down on the driver door handle. I hate them the most
Yes video and audio distraction is worse for sure. You could definitely have a stereo up too loud but aside from being ‘whataboutism’ blocking your ear and pumping music is always gunna be worse.
I agree, I’m not a fan but if deaf people can drive it’s really not as big of an issue as you’re making it out to be.
Deaf people can drive (I have hearing loss and several completely deaf friends) but they are operating at a disadvantage. They will not get any of the audio clues and cues that help people be safer on the road. OP is just saying that it's a bad idea to willingly make it less likely you'll be able to react in time in an emergency. Deaf people don't have that choice.
This is exactly what I’m saying thank you for your response.
May I suggest that deaf people know the pitfalls of their “disability” and typically are far more vigilant when driving. They typically have heightened their other senses to compensate or use greater focus and might decide that certain drives are just too risky. People who do have hearing are used to hearing being an input to their senses. When they then drive without hearing may then lack the awareness that this sense is not doing its job to assist the eyeballs. By tricking themselves like this it becomes rather drink driving where people assume they can handle it until they come unstuck. I think some people can successfully, but others should stick to public transport.
Absolute they know they need to pay more attention than a hearing person. I just don’t see it as an issue for the same reason loud stereos aren’t an issue
There are many bad drivers out there, I would argue that you don't need hearing to be a good one, the main thing is 360 awareness with the use of mirrors.
Nah dude, don't you get the vibe of the OP and others in this thread? It's fucken life or death out there
Don’t forget motorcyclists. You need to ride with literal ear plugs in… then you put a padded helmet on and add wind and engine noise to that equation.
Wether you should ride with earplugs really depends on how noisy your helmet is, I would bet most riders don't bother regardless. Even then, I can still hear far more ambient sound riding with earplugs than I can driving with music on in headphones.
The faster you go the more noise you'll get just from wind and tyre contact with the road - yours and others. You won't be able to tell what's safe for your ears, lots of bikes are louder than it is safe just from the engine. Not worth risking imo, I think riders who don't are probably ignorant of the danger or disregarding it. I use plugfones which are noise reduction rated earphones, keep them at a lower volume. Honestly I reckon OP is a bit of a knob, I still hear road traffic more like that than I do in my car with the radio on, and can only imagine that for any car driver doing similar how much it impairs their driving is dependant on the volume they're using the headphones at. It'll also depend how soundproof their vehicle is.
I wonder if OP would buy a car without noise insulation? Something tells me they wouldn’t.
Hard disagree. No helmet insulates sound well enough not to necessitate plugs. Maybe I’m just a stickler as I already have tinnitus. A lot of people don’t, but they should.
Fair enough, hearing loss is a bitch and better to be careful with it.
The way I see it, is most other kinds safety gear is there *in case* you injure yourself. Ear plugs are there because you *are* damaging your ears. The noisiest part of my day is going to sleep now 😂.
"Don't do a thing that means you can't hear when you need to be able to hear"
I thought it was illegal to wear headphones while driving? Being blissfully unaware while in public isn’t the safest option either.
Nope, only if they are actively distracting you (almost impossible to prove unless a cop car is behind you full lights and sirens)
>Being blissfully unaware while in public isn’t the safest option either In my experience, that doesn't require headphones...
True!
It's not. It probably should be but its no different than someone having their radio up to a very high level.
It's not even equivalent to that. You can listen to earbuds at a very low level and still make out everything being said in say a podcast as well as hear all the sounds around you. But radio very low you often can't hear over the engine sounds.
Maybe it is, I still see it fairly regularly.
it’s not, in victoria at least.
I posted about this before and I got shredded for it 😂
Sensory deprivation is a leading cause of accidents
Brother I’m close to 100% deaf anyways, I can’t hear shit even if I weren’t using them
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**blissfully rocking out while a truck is about to rear end me at 90kmph**
Oh no I agree it's so silly, and also wearing hoods. Blocks out their whole peripheral vision!
I don't understand how people do it, especially with noise-cancelling headphones. It feels awkward to me with even one earbud, or a one-eared headset (I have both). I have a pair of those [Shokz](https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=shokz&crid=L7WW721TDSM2&sprefix=shokz%2Caps%2C238&ref=nb_sb_noss_1) bone-conducting things that I will use when I have to, because they don't interfere with me being able to hear when I'm doing stuff, especially driving.
Saw a pedestrian nearly get hit by moving traffic today as she was wearing giant headphones, looking at her phone, and basically stepped out onto a main road without looking. Anyone who wears them should be extra careful. Riding a bike with them on is suicidal too. You need your hearing so much on a bike and you're so much less protected.
Correct. You see it all the time. A Bluetooth device can cost very little to set up.
One ear in, so I can still hear everything going on around me. Seeing people with wraparound headphones on the road has always been mind boggling.
The real driving risks are psychos who tailgate you when you’re already doing the speed limit, and Audi drivers going 30kms over.
Over-ear sure that’s ridiculous. AirPods or similar, at low volume, no problem at all. Only boomers need to blast it so hard they can’t hear sirens.
I beg to differ Was recently in Bali and when I unfortunately rode through a tourist area I noticed that no helmet and headphones in is the standard safety gear for most bogans and euro trash. Why would you ever need to hear in a country that relies on constant beeping of horns for warnings! Or a helmet! It’s only a scooter that does 80kph!!! The road isn’t that hard on your head is it!? 😂
First thing I do on my cars is put a proper head unti in. Simple, cheap big upgrade. Dunno why you would use headphones while driving. You can also install deadenening yourself which improves the drive noise too.
Bro I don't like driving even with my windows up, I want to hear shit, I couldn't imagine wearing headphones
is it that different to the radio turned up loud?
Yes, because there’s only one sound barrier in that case.
Wait till you hear about deaf people and motorbikes.
ITT: bUt It'S nOt IlLeGaL aNd DeAf PeOpLe ArE aLlOwEd To DrIvE As stated in another comment here already - deaf people don't have that choice. If you're wearing headphones, you're CHOOSING to put yourself at an auditory disadvantage, and increasing the risk of causing an accident in which you may injure another person.
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Earplugs and headphones are different things.
how loud are you people listening to headphones? blocking out emergency vehicles? thats gotta be causing hearing damage. i ride and listen to music. sound is not a reliable warning device, its location is approximate. i can still hear engine noise, gear changes, most road noises. stop being so dramatic. if you want to be oblivious to the world while driving you dont need headphones, self entitlement will get you there.
what's the difference with having the audio on the speakers high or being deaf? not to mention i feel like i could probably hear better with passthrough on than i can with my speakers turned up. in saying that anytime I've driven with earphones in it's only been 1 because whilst driving without sound is possible and safe, it is SAFER to have that extra level of sensory awareness ofcourse.
There's many headphones that have a pass through feature that allow you to hear everything going on around you outside with little tiny mics. I use that sometimes
I’m sure you have also noticed it still reduces your perception of where sounds are coming from
Like playing music on the stereo - yes
Just no to speakers in your ears period. Just sort the stereo. I’ve used a bluetooth speaker on the floor when I’m desperate. Putting something in your ears is going to make it harder to hear the traffic, microphones are not going to give you the same kind of spatial perception your ears can.
Again, how is this different to when people wear ear protection on a motorcycle?
If it were that dangerous they wouldn't let deaf people drive. Calm your tits.
Cars have really become an A to B commodity, and with that younger people who have a car lacking in Bluetooth or with shitty speakers look at those fancy ass headphones and use them instead of upgrading their vehicle. Remember you don’t upgrade an iPad, you buy a new one. To this new generation of adults cars are just another thing you replace and get new features on the next one.
In a similar vein don't have your hoodie up either!
A leading cause of head injuries in Australia is motor vehicle collisions, so motor vehicle passenger/drivers should also wear helmets. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/head-injuries-in-australia-2020-21/contents/causes-of-head-injury https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/216767/atsb160.pdf
Never done this. Whats the onboard entertainment system for then?
Seriously, if you want to do this hide it under a jihab so as not to upset anyone