In Virginia, you are allowed to have a headphone in one ear while rididng a bike, but the law is that you can't have both headphones in while riding, at least not on the streets. I have previsouly ridden with one earphone in, and it hasn't significantly lowered my awareness, but I tend to tune the music out so I can focus on the road and my surroundings. So I've stopped using them totally, while I'm commuting. (On a bike path and for exercise, I use my ipod still.)

What a crap survey, completely legal to be completely deafened by your doof doof in a car, why should bikes have a different set of rules!

I find that listening to music while riding helps me focus on the road better than without it. Of course the volume doesn't drown out the road noise. But the tunes heighten my awareness skills, which are already quite good.

It might even be illegal where you live. In Maryland, bikes count as vehicles, and it is explicitly illegal to wear headphones while driving. The booklet the Department of Transportation puts out on biking in Maryland even comes out and says that it's illegal to wear headphones on a bike in this state. I know we have some whacky laws here, but I doubt we're the only state with this one.

LA: It is legal in Ontario where the article is quoted from.

I mean "you" in general. :^)

"Music" does not necessarily equal "headphones". When I used to ride (admittedly, outside of urban areas), I'd use a small external speaker connected to my MP3 player. I'd set the volume high enough that I could hear it on climbs (when, er, there wasn't exactly a rush of wind past my ears), but low enough so as not to drown out traffic. I'd put the speaker on the bike if the MP3 player was on the bike (e.g., in a saddle bag), or on my person if the MP3 player was in a jacket pocket or something.

In an urban setting, my strategy may not work due to too much background noise, traffic and otherwise. But, for rides that are mostly quiet with occasional traffic, it worked well.

I don't have my music really loud, I can hear the music and what is going on around me.

Sooooo, if your deaf I guess you shouldn't be allowed to ride a bike or drive because, like wearing headphones, you can't hear whats going on around you.

Headphones and music don't cause accidents, people blissfully unaware of their environment cause accidents, whether they are in a car, on a bike, walking or running....or Congress.

* Natural selection will probably favour those who put just one earphone in while on the road.
* Riding without listening to anything is just not an option.
* You need the type of earphone that comes with a rubber 'mushroom', otherwise there's too much wind noise.
* Some day, manufacturers might realise that you sometimes only listen in one ear.

If it's already illegal to ride with headphones, there's no discussion there.
However, if it's not:
Riding a bike is no different traffic wise, than driving a car - in the sense that you must always be aware of who's in front and behind you. That means using mirrors if you're in a car, and using your eyes and turning your head if you're on a bike. Relying on sound to tell you where everything is around you, is a mistake leading to injury.

The police officer is deluded.

"How are you going to supposed to hear a car coming up behind you if you are cranking the tunes?"

I dunno. If being able to hear a car coming up behind you is important, how are you supposed to hear a car coming when you're sat in a car, riding a motorcycle or walking along a road?

The whole proposition is stupid, as are all the options in the poll.

If you're cycling in traffic you can't tell the difference between a car behind you, a car in front or a car safely in another lane 6ft to the side of you. It's just too noisy to trust your hearing.

So guess what...

The answer is you LOOK before you do anything that might cause traffic behind you to slow, and you trust that the car driver behind you isn't a homicidal maniac bent in knocking cyclists off the road.

Yet again, this is another motorist blaming cyclists for their guilty complex of driving around a tonne of dangerous metal.

When I commute by bike, I often listen to my iPod with the earbuds in. It is just like listening to the radio in a car. I can still hear the noises around me that I need to, and it is not as boring!

When I'm out on the trails, I enjoy my surroundings. It's peaceful. It's scenic. Most of all, it's not boring. When people wear their iPods, they are missing out, but that's not the problem.

When people are absorbed in their own sound space, the tend to ignore the world around them. More importantly, they cannot hear what might be coming up behind them. They are creating a hazard for themselves and everyone else around them. I have seen too many accidents and near-accidents cause by one (or both) parties were too busy listening to their music instead of looking out for other people.

I cannot see any reason to justify another person's safety so that you aren't "bored". Only the most self-absorbed person uses that for justification.

If deaf people are allowed to drive and ride and if you can play your stereo really loud in your car, then it is completely illogical that you cannot ride a bike with headphones.

i can hear more when i have my headphones on on my bike, than i can sitting in my car with the windows rolled up (and no music) or on my motorcyle with my helmet on.

also, it has been shown that listening to music in one ear is dangerous for riding or even running, because it screws up your balance and gives you a headache.

As a motorcycle owner and rider.I can tell you car drivers have a hard enough time with a cell phone.One of those dimwits ran me of off the road.I would suggest you focus on what you are doing.Leave the music at home.Distracted driving/riding is as bad as being drunk.

If I lived in a place like Amsterdam, then maybe I would think about riding with my iPod, but here in Oxford, it is dangerous enough walking around town with an iPod ... let's not even try to do it on a bike!

Besides all of the safety issues of your surrounding environment, I also keep an ear out on the functioning of my cycle while riding. I know the noises it is supposed to make and ones that it is not! I hear so many bikes that are squeaking and grinding in ways that mean they are unsafe.

I'm very surprised at all of you who only comment about road noise. It's also a concern if you can't hear emergency vehicles coming.
Is it really that hard to just use one ear?

"Relying on sound to tell you where everything is around you, is a mistake leading to injury."
Jan- Certainly your argument can be turned around to say that relying on just your eyes is also a mistake leading to injury

When I commuted by bike to work I wore headphones. It never effected my awareness. I kept the volume minimal so I could still hear road noise and set up a playlist ahead of time so I wouldn't have to fiddle with my Ipod. Even without headphones I usuall don't hear a car until it is right on me. Constant visual awareness is way more important when the wind is whistling in your ears.
If you can hear the car coming it's probably too late!

Also, I think the greater danger will always be distracted drivers. A car is much more dangerous than a bicycle.

What is everyone's obsession with keeping one's mind constantly distracted?

Seems so many people want to be plugged in (mentally) listening to music, TV, a computer or on the phone.

And I say this as I am typing on a computer and listening to the radio through my computer!

But when I'm commuting or just out on a ride on my bike, that's a different story.

In CA it is illegal for anyone operating a vehicle, whether a car or a bike, to have headphones. You are allowed to have an earphone (that is, just one ear speaker), but not something that covers both ears.

Don't even get me started on the cyclists who won't wear helmets because they "look funny" but have no problem wearing a funky headphone set.

I'm a cyclist and it irks me that so many irresponsible cyclists give anti-bike folks excuses to tar us all with the same brush. If you want to be treated like the bike is a vehicle rather than a toy, ride responsibly and according to the vehicle code. If you pick and choose when you're going to behave like a vehicle, don't blame law enforcement or anti-bike people for blowing you off.

Oh how I hate people having headphoens on while riding their bikes or inline skating.

This is just so not cool, you can't alert them when passing and usuallythose are the kind of people who have very poor control of their bike / inline skates.

Maybe it's just Darwinism in action?

If that's an electric car running you over, you probably won't be able to hear it coming anyway.

I agree that the choices offered were much to one-sided. Could not find any that remotely reflect my view. The view of the police officer smells of cyclist bashing, but I think it is better not to listen to music in traffic. Having said that car drivers talking on phones or even listening to the news is much, much worse, because that distracts the drivers. And they are responsible for tonnes of steel moving at murderous speeds.

The helmet thing is way overhyped as any form of "solution" . Have a look at the Wikipedia article on Bicycle helmets or do a web search for "Three lessons for a better cycling future", or if you want to really dig into the stuff go to cyclehelmets.org

I agree with Shaun. Of course you should be able to wear earphones and listen to music (unless it is banned for all vehicle operators), however I do think it is better not to. It should however remain a choice.

> Don't even get me started on the cyclists who won't
> wear helmets because they "look funny" but have no
> problem wearing a funky headphone set.

Helmets ! aghhhh - no, no, no. They aren't proven and wearing them must be personal choice. Including not getting hassled by ill informed do gooders thinking that helmets = safety.

brandon: you are deluded. So much more comes from vision than hearing. That is why deaf people are allowed to drive and blind people are not.

Obviously that police officer has never ridden a bike on the street. A car coming up behind is one of the least of a cyclist's worries. Almost all bike/car accidents happen when either the bike or the car changes direction IN FRONT of the other vehicle. It could be improper signaling, not paying attention, carelessness on the part of either driver, but it's not because they can't hear.

Seriously, do people believe if you have headphones on you are completely oblivous to your surroundings? The answer is simple...some people are easily distracted, some are not. Its not right or wrong either way, just make the best choice based on yourself. I wear headphones most of the time, have a hell of a lot of bike control, have never been hit, hit anybody, caused an accident or been in one, with or without headphones (knock on wood :)) I've been riding a bike on an almost a daily basis for the last 34 years.