Originally Posted by
Trevor98
obviously the guy was an idiot (his subsequent conversation with the officials proved that), however, the ear piece made it worse as he was in his own world and not paying attention to much. The pack yelled at him as he was lapped and he didn't hear them. This specific example isn't a generalization of every rider with an earbud, but rather an example of idiots.
I'm not at all against people wearing an earbud while riding- I do myself often enough when I'm alone risking only my life. There are all sorts of argument for and against which are basically personal case based rationales. USAC rules must govern the group and must deal with and mitigate the worst cases for the rest of our safety. Unfortunately, there are too many idiots out there that can't wear one without being a danger to the group so the only prudent thing to do is ban them from racing (USAC's purview). In this case, keeping everyone from wearing one is worth not having the idiots wear them in races.
Pcad, I'm glad you're so on top of your game but do you trust the slobbering idiot next to you to ride safely while distracted by his ipod? That's really the issue here.
(edited for clarity and spelling
It's not the iPod that would scare me. It's the idiot part. That is not related to iPods.
Fortunately in the Master's 35+ and 45+ fields that is not a major issue.