is it just me or are more and more cagers starting to listen freakin ipods when their driving??? :crazy:
at least if they had the radio on (@reasonable levels) they could still hear things around them!!
how can they be aware what is going around them when they are totaly def to their surroundings??
surely there should be a law against this (as there is for phone use)
Just follow your heart and get one of these -
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I have a Ducati riding mate who wears his all the time whilst riding - can’t really get with that either. But then he does ride a Ducati…
i dont think they ever were ! 
I’ve noticed this a lot, too.
But then I had a thought - are they actually using their hands-free iPhone kits? The earphones do have the little mic on the cord most of the time.
I know it’s still not legal, as you have to touch the phone to answer it or make a call, but it’s better than the hold-it-like-a-walkie-talkie method (or just holding it up to your ear like normal)…
they ones that are singing def are listening to music!
Touché!
Or they’re nutters. Either way, I’d stay away from 'em!
I could be wrong but I belive I heard somewhere that it’s only legal if they have one earbud in so the other ear can hear whats going on arround them. A copper once said to me, if it sounds like it should be against the law then it probably is.
I don’t know if listening to music (to calm nerves) whilst driving (in precarious places) is really detrimental to road awareness?
Some of the government research showed that people were distractible when changing CDs/talking on mobiles etc.
As far as I know, listening to music, activates a different part of the brain than say, speaking on a mobile phone. Personally, I find it easier to concentrate when I read for example, with the music on… or listen to music and drive, but not read and drive at the same time of course. However I tend to overcompensate with vision whilst driving. Following your argument, a biker with a loud exhaust wouldn’t be able to hear anything, other than deafening himself, and so his exhaust would be just as bad as listening to music.
The main problem with listening to the iPod in the car, tend to focus on those pirate stations in the city…they wreck the frequency transmission and affect the sound quality. I don’t listen with earbuds (terrible things :() and hook the iPod into the car stereo instead. In any case, I’m very consistent. I have the illegal exhaust on the bike, and I listen to music in the car 
When i got my ipod i bought a new head unit for the car so that i can plug my ipod in.
I know a few bikers that wear IPods whilst riding, What’s worse?? I for one would like to hear as much around me as possible
I ride my bike with my earphones plugged into my right ear, and my bluetooth is next to my left ear when it activates.
I don’t see the problem with it, as I’m unlikely to hear anyone aproaching from behind anyway, thanks to my Beowulf end-can.
I find that the best way to be aware of what’s going on around you is to use your mirrors and have frequent shoulder checks! Something that a lot of bikers forget to do, regardless of whether they’re wearing earphones or not! 
As for driving a car whilst wearing earphones, pretty much the same applies! And, from the legality side of things, it’s perfectly legal! There’s nothing in Traffic Legislation that I can think of that would prove otherwise! I’d rather a cager be wearing his earphones to answer the phone/listen to music than be constantly messing about with the controls on the dashboard!
Also, certain types of music can aid concentration. For instance, if you are trying to learn something, having classical music on in the background can help your mind absorb the information. Whereas listening to Marylin Manson can make you want to pop wheelies and ride like a hooligan! 
To throw a spanner in the works, from what people have said should we ban deaf people from driver or riding?
My ex is deaf without her hearing aids shes crap at driving with or without them.
I ride all the time with a headphone in but have a set playlist as the wrong type of album like system of a down and im off being silly lol
dont def people have sonar superpowers anyway? :w00t: :hehe:
I dont think its illegal to touch the phone as long as its in a secured holder.
So you can touch it to answer calls or to select a number to ring.
That said, I think you’d be in hot water if it was proven that an accident was the result of being distracted trying to punch numbers into the phone, in the same way that changing a CD resulting in an accident would be.
Babe, dont call them cagers…lucky13 prefers “CAR DRIVERS” to us that use that word? He made such a point of telling me in one of my posts that got deleted by our MODs btw…Go figure, cos i cant !! :hehe:Oh, this IS the rant/soap box part of LB isnt it :w00t: phew thats ok then, or you might not get to see my reply here either !!
I wouldn’t listen to headphones in London but I did spend my entire time plugged in whilst in Dún na nGall due to it a) raining the entire time, and music was a good thing to take my mind of it and b) the worst thing you could do was hit a sheep.
The thing I dodn’t like with headphones, especially on the motorway, is that they can block out less than ear plugs.
Actually on the subject of plug how many people wear them? I never ride without them partly because I have gotten used to it and also because it feels pretty deafening not to.
The law treats it as driving without due care and attention because it does distract. It’s probably one of those laws that is applied at the discretion of the Police(man) on the spot.
Personally, I can’t see the difference between that and motorcyclists earplugs, except that
the motorcyclist has a helmet on their head, which blocks sound anywaymotorcyclists tend to be more observant
must not rise, must not rise…
I wear an ipod type device while driving both my motorcycles and my car, but only because it is also bluetooth and acts as a handsfree device as well.I am observant when I drive, regardless of what I drive, it is not like you can turn that sort of thing on and off, so whether I can hear you are not is irrelevant. On the question of earplugs to block out sound…I have never ridden with ear plugs unless they were playing music…
