While I think this is a sad tragedy and am sorry for the family and friends, I think blaming earphones is over kill. I see nothing dangerous about listening to music while riding a bicycle as long as the volume is kept at a reasonable level.
After all if using earphones is dangerous while riding, a bicycle can't the same logic be applied to a jogger, pedestrian, or for that matter someone in a car with the volume turned way up,

I've tried riding while listening to my iPod (see iPod Cycling), and I certainly enjoy it. However, I can't recommend it for the following reasons.

1) Cyclists are much more in the road than runners or walkers are.

2) Cyclists also "ride with the traffic", which means that they do not see cars and trucks until they are passed by them. Runners and walkers are supposed to travel against the traffic, so they see the cars approaching even if they can't hear them.

3) I think it's much more likely that an iPod user will turn his volume up to the point where he tunes out traffic noise than it is that he will keep volume low so he can hear vehicles around him.

Dave Aiello
Editor
Operation Gadget
http://www.operationgadget.com/

I agree it's dangerous - but on very long rides by myself i have no problem using a single ear phone and keeping it at a lower volume. As long as i'm alert I don't consider that much more dangerous than the inherant danger of riding itself. To each his own :)

In most places in the US, riding with headphones on is also illegal. Of course, chances of enforcement approximate zero.

Just because the poor guy was wearing earphones, it doesn't mean they caused, or even contributed to the accident.

There are plenty of accidents with people *not* wearing earphones!

I have cycled for about 10 years commuiting into central London, so I do speak with some experience.

It may seem that listening to earphones is dangerous, but I disagree.

15 metres, 5 metres and just before pulling out of their stream of traffic, cyclists should always LOOK over their shoulder. When riding, you rely on your eyes, not your ears. My ears only tell me what's behind me.

Let's say I hear the noise of Satan on his Harley, and he's revving and coming to mow me down. (Note: I would hear a Harley, but I wouldn't hear the droning hum of most carsover the buffeting of wind in my ears.)

OK - So I hear his bike. It's then very hard to 'place' where the sound has come from (or at least to do so quickly enough for that to be useful). For whatever reason it just doesn't happen.

Moving at say, 15mph, with wind in your ears, hearing a noise coming from behind you with no visual clues, and having a split second to locate the source of the noise, it means you get very poor perception of where sounds come from. 10 metres behind you to the left, 4 metres behind you to the right?

So even if I knew Satan's roar was coming from behind me it would be very difficuly to say whether it was to the right or left, or at least not until it was too late anyway.

Even if I did know *where* the sound was coming from, I don't know what he's gonna do next. I don't know how fast he's going, if he's going to turn left, right or go straight on.

But all this doesn't matter.
Even if somehow my ears could tell me this, I would only have one option - forwards!

Braking wouldn't help me get away from something that was approaching me from behind, and swerving would not be an option. Flanked by traffic and kerb, you have to act predictably.

After all that, I really don't see how earphones can be dangerous 99.999% of the time.

If anyone wants suggest a scenario, I would be interested to 'hear' it...

Richard