I don't listen to music in any form when I'm moving. The radio in my car doesn't even work, and I can't be bothered getting it fixed. I've also been known to ask people on buses to turn their volume down, although the headphones and that seem to be far better now and there's a lot less sound leakage. But just in case I carry ear plugs at all times, and I use them when necessary. Funny thing is people really seem to take offense to me doing that.

Darwinisum at it's best......

It continually amazes me that technology - which is supposed to make life easier - just seems to make people dumber.

Our modern brains seem to just crave more and more input from these gadgets. A brain is a terrible thing to waste, and it appears that it's capacity for storing information is extremely limited. The latest twitter or text message can easily replace long-held information that's been there since Kindergarten. Like being considerate of others, or looking before crossing the street.

My opinion is that it's a modern (commercially-driven) craze to just fill up on junk information. Like junk food, but for your brain: it's not really good for you, but it's got pretty colours, and gives you a wee thrill while your consuming it. And when that's done, move onto the next thing pronto.

I don't recall there being a sharp rise in pedestrian-related injuries when the Sony Walkman came out. There were no 'Footloose' fans dancing into the path of oncoming traffic.

Modern syndrome indeed. Perhaps there's a downloadable iPhone app that can assist?

@ Abitsarky - are you suggesting that the content of one's iPod determines the probability of your being struck by a car while out walking?

Morons will always find a way to throw themselves in front of cars regardless of whether they are listening to Chopin or the Insane Clown Posse. Natural selection at its very best.

@ abitsarky #3

"I don't recall there being a sharp rise in pedestrian-related injuries when the Sony Walkman came out. There were no 'Footloose' fans dancing into the path of oncoming traffic."

Good point. Showing my age a little but I do remember a cartoon in Mad magazine circa 1987 on the subject :)

I've used a walkman/MP3 player when cycling for as long as I have had them (getting on to 20 years now), and it has never caused me any safety issues. That said, I deliberately never have the volume loud enough to drown out the ambient noise, and don't use noise cancelling headphones (and wouldn't in this circumstance). I wouldn't use my player if walking alone at night either. If you have the volume up loud enough to drown out whats happening around you while in a dynaimc moving environment you're asking for trouble.

I think Darwin's theory of natural selection applies. If you're so silly that you don't look when you cross the road, then you're pretty damn dumb. I'm extra careful crossing the road when my ipod's on. It's just a bad idea to not look when you're crossing the road, music or not.

@abitsarky: I'm not sure what your biological education is, but a twitter message will not erase information known since kindergarten. Things we remember are through electrical connections of neurological pathways. Something we have known most of our lives has a very strong electrical connection. A twitter message, read once, will have a very weak electrical connection. Your "junk information" is stored in a completely different section of the brain, called short term memory. Dumb people are dumb whether they're using their cellphones or not.

I listen to music while I am running, and usually in the car. I do not use it on a bike, and would never use it in traffic, your hearing is so vital to fill in the gaps where your eyes cannot see. I stopped wearing headphones on a bike when another cyclist passed me on a gravel track and, not knowing he was there, moved into his path. he clipped my handlebars and I went down. had I not been wearing headphones I would have heard him.

When I cycle with music, I leave the earbud on the traffic side out, I've also done the same when using my iPod in the car. That way, I can hear traffic noise, but also listen to music!

Good points. Slightly off topic, but what irritates me most is the people who listen to ipods on the bus at such a deafeningly high level that you can hear every beat and every word. And you know the only reason they're doing that is because they want everybody else to hear what they're listening to.

I have read some moronic views on this blog, but this one definitely beats them all, and well surpasses the original 'news' item for stupidity. If acute hearing is so essential for road safety, we had better ban car radios and make motorcycle helmets open around the ears. More important, we had better ban the deaf from cars, bicycles, and footpaths.

As a pedestrian or cyclist, I don't need to hear cars; I can feel the vibration even before they roar past and drown out Beethoven's Fifth. As a car and truck driver, I'll hit another car to avoid an unprotected road user. Any motorist who hits a pedestrian, cyclist, or skateboarder should be presumed to be at fault, and liable for any damages. That would do a great deal to make carbon-neutral transport safer, and eliminate the idiocy of posts and comments like the above that seek to blame the victims of careless driving; that somehow they asked for it by listening to music, or being young, or energetic, or wearing lycra ...