Bike Forums - View Single Post - Listening to Music via Headphones?

05-11-20, 09:10 AM

#180

Jim from Boston

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Quote:

Originally Posted by adlai

I do it all the time[listen to music]. Often that is really helpful for getting through a miserable ride.

Fact is that if a car is coming up behind you unsafely, there is nothing you can do. With headphones you still can see what is in front of you and that is safe enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

FWIW, see my preceding post (link) on this thread in reply to this question:

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattTheHat

Can someone...anyone...explain how knowing a car is behind you makes any difference whatsoever? Please?

I've asked this in other threads and never gotten a response. In other words, what do you do with the information? What do you do differently? Are you pulling off the road or something? It seems to me that if you do anything differently based on whether or not a car is behind you is just a recipe for disaster, because you're going to eventually get it wrong.

Then there was this subquent post:

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAT7RDR

To the OP: Have you ever been hit by a vehicle? There is usually a couple of seconds once you hear the vehicle to move over closer to the roadside if one is available.

I use those few seconds for that purpose. Some of us do not have good hearing to begin with. I count on those few seconds for my safety. So what is most important in your life - music, or the possibility of avoid getting hit?

Indeed I was hit from behind several years ago on a quiet residential road by a distracted (? impaired) hit and run, with six weeks in acute and rehab hospitalsand three months off work, with long term skeletal problems. So I am vitally interested in the question of situational awareness especially of rearward traffic:

Quote:

Originally Posted by eja_ bottecchia

...I use the Garmin Varia radar unit. I like the warnings that I get and I like seeing the alerts on my Garmin head unit.

BUT, I still use an eyeglass mounted mirror.

When I get an alert, I quickly check my mirror to see what’s coming my way.

Cars now have a similar system, there is an audible alert when cars are nearby, then you check the mirrors to confirm the location of nearby vehicles.

I like the peace of mind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

Thanks for your reply @eja_ bottecchia. It appears you have an advanced system for monitoring traffic behind you. I wrote my series of posts, without reference to listening devices, to answer the earnest question of @MattTheHat,

I linked to this real-time video "Cyclist Rear Ended at 55mph"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYMKp71vW-I
And asked the counter-question“At what point do you realize that the upcoming car ain't gonna swerve out of your line of travel?”

Is it at your limit of detection of 153 meters, my suggestion of about 27 meters...when or if? I advocate for a mirror to decide,...

Not to be contrarian, @eja_ bottecchia, but rearward monitoring does not bring me peace of mind, but rather sets up a tension of monitoring behind and looking forward down the road to consider, perhaps subconsciously, a strategy to handle the imminent situation....

For me, peace of mind briefly sets in when I note there is no one behind me, and I can concentrate solely on the upcoming road and intersections.

I'm surprised when these seemingly definitive, and even fatalistic statements about upcoming cars on the road fail to mention the use of a rearview mirror, but to each his own.