I think lack of sense was responsible more than the Ipod. Still turn the volume down even if it's to save you from tinnitus.


https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3604...illed-by-train

I wonder if she was wearing a helmet.

I'm shocked by the implication that a train was actually moving in New Zealand

Is that a New Zealand thing? My parents named me at birth.

Cyclist at fault. Period.

-Kurt

Update: I know my post is off-topic, but the reason why I wrote this is I thought that fans of Apple would post this kind of message. I know this kind of mistake is serious and that this is not a tech site, so I've retracted my post. Pardon me.

One of the few cyclist fatalities in Arkansas in the past decade was something similar. A man rode right into a train after going around multiple stopped cars and the barrier arm. Is there something about bicycles and trains that shuts people's brains off?

There have been several cases of pedestrians wearing headphones getting hit by trains too. And tens or hundreds of thousands of cases of pedestrians and cyclists wearing headphones that stop and wait for the train and don't get hit.

Correlation/Causation.

However, to quote the internets: Correlation doesn't imply causation, but it does waggle it's eyebrows suggestively and gesture furtively while mouthing 'look over there'. So, go figure...

Pretty funny comic, actually...

Plus thousands of cases of pedestrians - hampered by nothing but their lack of intelligence - that don't, and do get hit.

An perfect example: Metra's Downer's Grove incident. Watch if you don't mind seeing someone thrown like a hockey puck:

GRAPHIC IMAGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7m1KYcbA9c

For those of you who want to tear that video to pieces, here's an FRA accident report that spells everything out, word-for-word:



-Kurt

95% chance she was. You can ride naked in NZ but you can't ride without a helmet.

I used to take the Burlington Northern out to Naperville every day. Once it got warm it seemed like once a month we'd have to stop on the tracks because someone got themselves killed. I remember one month in 04 there were 3. I thought they were all suicides but it seems lots of people just don't pay attention.

I mean i know sometimes people get distracted, but at train tracks?

Personally I have never understood why people think they have to have an Ipod in their ears while they ride. One of the reasons I ride is to see and hear what is going on around me. Maybe if I were touring in New Mexico or the Arizona desert, a radio or Ipod might be nice, but other wise no. And of course there is the whole aspect of safety.

I ride exactly the same route, through rural areas with almost no traffic, 45 minutes each way, 300 or so times a year, year in and year out. I like to have audiobooks to keep me busy. I mean, I like time alone to think, but not that much.

I do only use one earbud though. Personally I have to hit pause on my player whenever it's playing music and I'm doing anything that requires concentration, so I wouldn't play music at all while riding, but that's just me.

Note that her estate did try to sue ...

Interesting. I have no trouble with music, but would not be able to ride with an audiobook. I would either get to my destination and not remember a single word of the book or I would listen and ride around like a zombie.

I rarely listen to music on my ride, but sometimes I do. I always look behind myself about every 5 seconds, whether I am walking, riding, listening to music or not, so it doesn't make much of a difference. I do know some people who are only alive by some crazy coincidence. Wearing headphones does make them a bit worse.

if you don't want to get hit by the big ole train, don't walk on the train tracks. sounds like common sense, doesn't it

wutz with the snuff videos? can the a moderator check into this please

It must have been one of the new Ipods that block your vision too. In Seattle there is a area near a park on the waterfront that has a set of double tracks and some people on seeing a train coming from one direction carefully get over on to the other track and watch the train come by- until, that is, the train coming the other way, on their track, kills them.

Why? That's as immaterial as whether her favorite color is blue. No helmet will stop a moving train.

There are good reasons why it's illegal in many places to bike with earphones in, at least in both ears. Dampening a sense that brings you important information about the world you're traveling through isn't a great idea. There's a measurable loss of attention ( paid to the hear and now ) that comes from listening to music, books, etc. A shocking 40 % of people listening to music players didn't notice a clown on a unicycle they as walked by him. ( Source: The queerest of all queer things. )

Yes, everyone's different. There are people here at work who can't work unless they have headphones on with music playing.

I can't work if I AM listening to music, I just want to sit and listen to the music. I simply can't concentrate with music playing. I think the problem is that I like music too much for it to just be background.

Next time when you drive somewhere you have never been, when you get close and are looking for the number, you may notice you turn the music down. I know I do, i never thought about it until someone pointed out pretty much everyone turns down the music when they are looking around concentrating.

If we are going to blame distraction shouldn't we be talking about a case where she ran into the crossing arm? She had to detour around it to get into danger.

Not distraction, though I will buy into a complete disconnect from reality.

Is it illegal to ride while deaf -- as in, can't hear anything, maybe even since birth, uses sign language to communicate, etc... ?

The rider in the opening post made a mistake that had absolutely nothing to do with the earphones and everything to do with not looking.

Coincidentally, here's a recent poll right here on BF:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...lroad-crossing

Nobody says that they would just listen for a train instead of looking for one.