Jaywalk3r

Yes, frankly.

Leebo

I can't, if there are more than 3 birds, or crazy, more than 2 kinds of birds I either have to stop or I fall off my bike. See above post of walking and chewing gum

ItsJustMe

Wind makes a lot more difference than an earbud to whether I can hear cars approaching. I guess I shouldn't ride a bike if it's windy. I definitely should dismount and walk through construction zones, they're so noisy.

degnaw

I don't think there's a problem with riding with a single earbud - I can still hear approaching traffic perfectly fine with my other ear. Do you turn off the radio and open all of your windows when you drive your car? Because the sound isolating qualities of a modern car far exceeds that of most earbuds.

MMACH 5

I haven't read this whole thread, so this might have been mentioned.

Are deaf people unable to safely operate a bicycle?

jimincalif

Not being deaf, I can't speak to their experience personally. My belief is deaf people can do a lot of things well, including riding a bike, that hearing persons would have difficulty with if they could not hear temporarily. A deaf person is down one sense so the brain adapts and compensates. But for those of us fortunate enough to have our sense of sound, why intentionally compromise it?

mr_bill

(Hoping to be helpful here.)

There is a Search Thread pulldown.
Type the word "deaf" - no quotes of course, into the text box.

Yes, it has been mentioned.


Still trying to be helpful.

In Massachusetts, there are no laws covering bicyclists listening to headphones, composing or reading texts, watching netflix, or for that matter drinking, while biking. Such laws specifically apply to operators of motor vehicles.

-mr. bill

kickstart

I don't drive a car, but I do drive a semi and I don't have the radio on, leave the windows cracked open, and open them all the way when backing so I can hear.
But honestly that's my preference, and it really isn't the same thing because the hazards, challenges, responsibilities, conditions, and dangers are all different for walkin, riding, and driving.

What really matters isn't if one can do it safely, its that they recognize it has the potential to be not as safe, and compensate accordingly.

MMACH 5

Fair enough. And for the record, I don't have an issue with anyone riding with headphones. I don't do it because I have a bluetooth speaker on my handlebars.

LesterOfPuppets

I saw a guy (presumably deaf) driving up Main Street and signing to his passenger today.

I-Like-To-Bike

Did they survive the encounter?

keyven

They're not an active danger per se - it's simply defensive cycling to have as much of your faculties working to keep you safe.

My point is 99% of the time the law is merely a guideline that's overly cautious and we can ignore. Because if I never got into an accident while text-driving or running red lights, I must be smarter than the rest of the morons who did, right? /sarcasm

Like those campaigners who claim "texting causes deadly accidents" when 99% of texting-drivers don't cause accidents, it's hardly going to persuade people that it is dangerous and they should stop doing it.

Jaywalk3r

Anyone who is relying on their ears instead of their eyes to keep them safe is not practicing defensive cycling. And if they're using their eyes, then there simply isn't much information their ears can add.

keyven

I'd love to see where you're getting this information from. And I don't think you understand the term "defensive behavior" at all.

It means you go that extra step to ensure your personal safety even if you're legally in the right. It means looking first before stepping out on the street even if the light is in your favor. It means slowing down when a taxi stops by the pavement in front of you. It means employing an additional faculty in the rare event your swiveling vision misses incoming danger but your ears catch it. The vision is, after all, limited to roughly 180 degrees. Your hearing is not.

Jaywalk3r

Thank you Captain Obvious. Read my signature. It's all about defensive cycling.

I can hear approaching traffic just fine with my IEMs in, listening to music, but that doesn't matter, because hearing traffic approach is never a suitable substitution for seeing it. And if I see it, it doesn't much matter if I can hear it.

Rollfast

Hey! No snarky. We are a family friendly argument!

keyven

LOL and you think your definition of defensive driving is correct? Apparently, you do need the help of Captain Obvious. I don't know how to argue with ignorance. Educate yourself, cheers.

How to cycle defensively on the road | realbuzz
Cycling with Cars: Riding Defensively | Tuned In To Cycling

Riding defensively boils down to always being aware of where the cars are and what they’re doing, and knowing about, and being on the lookout for, the situations that most frequently lead to collisions between cyclists and motorized vehicles

Jaywalk3r

Thanks for the links. After reading the articles, I feel obligated to point out that neither is a particularly good source. The first one fails to provide any information about riding defensively, instead providing beginners with the most basic advice without sufficient detail to be useful. At least it adds in some dubious statistics and incorrect information, though. The author of the second article gives some seriously bad advice, particularly regarding lane position. And one shouldn't simply watch for people inside the cars when riding alongside parked cars; the wise cyclist should completely avoid riding in the door zone. Take the lane; that's what it's there for! Contrary to what the author claims, traffic lanes are rarely wide enough to safely share. If he can't get lane positioning right, why should I trust him about anything else? (To his credit, he does provide some passable advice on how to get yourself out of some bad situations that result from poor lane positioning.)

I agree that it includes that and much more. And hearing isn't required for any of it. I can, however, hear traffic around me just fine with my IEMs in. Wind noise is a much bigger obstacle to hearing traffic, because it covers a many more frequencies simultaneously than does music, and is much more likely to drown out pertinent traffic sounds, earbuds or not.