Drivers wearing headphones...

FutureGuy · 12-10-2012 10:05am #1

After being nearly cleaned out of it twice in the space of four days by examples of dangerous driving by fellow road users wearing headphones, I was wondering whether penalty points should be introduced for people who are driving while wearing these.

This morning, some idiot in a golf came within inches of taking the front off my car off. He was wearing a pair of Beats by Dre and never heard two cars (including myself) beeping at him that he could have collided with me.

If they are wearing earphones and listening to loud music, they are unlikely to hear the horns of other cars. I rang the gardai this morning and I was stunned that they cannot do anything because it is not an offense!

So my question is...

Should wearing headphones be an punishable offence (if you get 4 penalty points for using a mobile phone, 2 for wearing headphones would be merited).

Mr E · 12-10-2012 10:07am

100%. It's bloody dangerous.

DipStick McSwindler · 12-10-2012 10:09am

This post has been deleted.

Tabnabs · 12-10-2012 10:17am

Just this morning in heavy rush hour traffic, I noticed a driver with headphones on whilst driving a loaded rigid tipper truck. That certainly struck me as irresponsible and potentially hazardous.

Viper_JB · 12-10-2012 10:19am

I dunno really, by the same logic should deaf people be banned from driving?

mik_da_man · 12-10-2012 10:23am

I was driving on a dc in Cork a few weeks back and an ambulance came up from behind me. I pulled over, but the driver in front didn't for a while, never heard the sierns as he was wearing earphones.

Very dangerous imo.

Viper_JB · 12-10-2012 10:31am

OSI wrote: »

Deaf people, by virtue of always being deaf, have adapted to be considerably more aware of the visual aspects of their surroundings. Deaf drivers are often better drivers than their hearing counterparts as they are much more used to looking out for dangers, rather than expecting to hear them.

I had considered that alright but can't help but think anyone who depends on being able to hear approaching danger and doesn't observe or use their eyes properly is pretty much destined to cause trouble on the roads reguardless on what they have on their heads. In saying that though I would never drive with headphones on I think it has the potential to make people even more detached from the experience of drivin, but I dunno something about making it illegal doesn't sit right with me....

djimi · 12-10-2012 10:43am

IrishFeeney92 wrote: »

If you say that then you have to ban speakers and radios, people can blare music and still hear nothing in their cars

anyways most people only use there headphones to talk on the phone without being done

World of difference in fairness. The headphones I have cancel out all noise, to the point where someone could be sitting beside me shouting at me and I wouldnt hear them. Youd want to have a car radio turned up to eardrum splitting levels to have the same effect.

I have driven with headphones on before and you are not aware of your surroundings to anywhere like the same degree as you are without the headphones in. Its literally as if one of your senses have been switched off.

I thought it was already illegal to drive a car with headphones in, no? I could have sworn that it was something that you could be stopped for...

mitosis · 12-10-2012 10:46am

I'd have thought "Driving without due care and ATTENTION" would be prosecutable

dgt · 12-10-2012 10:47am

Not 1 ear, but 2 ears are taken up. What's wrong with the radio?

Usually blots out the sound of everything else, highly dangerous

advertsfox · 12-10-2012 10:47am

I can't hear a thing or sometimes even notice a person behind me at my desk in work if I'm wearing ear / headphones, let alone doing 120KPH on a motorway!

Viper_JB · 12-10-2012 10:47am

djimi wrote: »

I thought it was already illegal to drive a car with headphones in, no? I could have sworn that it was something that you could be stopped for...

I don't think so, surely that would make the BT headsets illegal too?

blindsider · 12-10-2012 10:55am

People driving and listening to music etc on 2 headphones are dangerous. Had the scary experience of a guy totally caught up in his music last week - went straight through a red - thankfully he spotted the artic! He pulled in to the same car-park as me and I could see the 'cans'.

Using one earphone for a conversation is okay, you still have one ear open for traffic/sirens etc.

Surely this is prosecutable for 'driving without due care and attention' and if sth is witnessed by Gardai then it's 'reckless' isn't it?

If you can't hear traffic esp. sirens etc then you're a danger to yourself and others. Why would you deliberately block off one of the most useful tools you have while driving?

@OSI - good on you for being so diligent!

djimi · 12-10-2012 10:59am

Viper_JB wrote: »

I don't think so, surely that would make the BT headsets illegal too?

Bluetooth headsets only go in one ear; very different propect to something that almost completely blocks all sound from both ears.

Mycroft H · 12-10-2012 11:04am

My opinion of a driver instantly drops several notches when I see someone with headphones on while driving

Quagmire77 · 12-10-2012 11:09am

I really doubt these folks are listening to music but rather talking on phone, nothing illegal about it!

Viper_JB · 12-10-2012 11:16am

djimi wrote: »

Bluetooth headsets only go in one ear; very different propect to something that almost completely blocks all sound from both ears.

It'd be nearly impossible to police though anyone stopped would probably just claim the headphones were a headset, although with peoples attitude towards driving while holding a phone to their face I don't think making it illegal would stop any of the people who do it anyways.

deandean · 12-10-2012 11:17am

Advert stuck in the middle of this thread :rolleyes:
newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=81208871

FutureGuy · 12-10-2012 11:17am

Quagmire77 wrote: »

I really doubt these folks are listening to music but rather talking on phone, nothing illegal about it!

Neither driver were talking on the phone when they nearly hit me. None of the other 9-10 other idiots I have seen driving dangerously with ear/headphones in Limerick City in the last couple of years were talking to people either.

bazz26 · 12-10-2012 11:21am

The irony of this thread is that there is an advert down in the corner for monster headphones.

advertsfox · 12-10-2012 11:27am

bazz26 wrote: »

The irony of this thread is that there is an advert down in the corner for monster headphones.

What ads?

Top Dog · 12-10-2012 11:28am

My hands-free kit is a pair of earphones. Normally I'd have them thrown over my ears unless I'm actually on a call.

The problem with policing a ban on headphones, is the trouble with distinguishing between the pair.

H3llR4iser · 12-10-2012 11:50am

Where can I find the whole set of the rules of the road and have a read? I find it hard to believe that there isn't anything specifically against the use of stereo earphones and headphones while driving.

On the continent there are specific rules against it. In Italy, it is forbidden to drive while wearing dual headphones or earphones, the penalty is a fine of 162 Euro and 5 penalty points (10 points get your license taken, so it's considered a heavy offense). On many safety aspects, believe it or not, the Irish road rules system is actually more advanced than the Italian one, so I really believe there must be something in there.

FutureGuy · 12-10-2012 12:03pm

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Where can I find the whole set of the rules of the road and have a read? I find it hard to believe that there isn't anything specifically against the use of stereo earphones and headphones while driving.

On the continent there are specific rules against it. In Italy, it is forbidden to drive while wearing dual headphones or earphones, the penalty is a fine of 162 Euro and 5 penalty points (10 points get your license taken, so it's considered a heavy offense). On many safety aspects, believe it or not, the Irish road rules system is actually more advanced than the Italian one, so I really believe there must be something in there.

I rang the gardai station and the Gardai Road Safety Unit this morning. Both stated that wearing them is perfectly legal while driving. The RSU stated that they can be done for wreckless driving *if* they are actually driving dangerously, but it would have nothing to do with wearing headphones of not.

The RSU stated that I can write a letter to the Garda National Traffic Bureau stating your point, and that this would be reviewed.

My first purchase this weekend is a dash cam. Nearly killed while driving home from soccer at 11pm last night by an elderly woman speeding the wrong way down O' Connells St in Limerick. :rolleyes:

The roads. They are dangerous.

gerarda · 12-10-2012 12:11pm

Slightly off topic but I remember seeing a poser in an old celica im my rear view mirror on the blanch centre slip road off the navan road wearing shades at 11pm!! He raced passed me and I caught up with him in the local texaco, and there he was getting his ego dented by the boys in blue!

mitosis · 12-10-2012 12:12pm

FutureGuy wrote: »

I rang the gardai station and the Gardai Road Safety Unit this morning. Both stated that wearing them is perfectly legal while driving. The RSU stated that they can be done for wreckless driving *if* they are actually driving dangerously, but it would have nothing to do with wearing headphones of not.

The RSU stated that I can write a letter to the Garda National Traffic Bureau stating your point, and that this would be reviewed.

My first purchase this weekend is a dash cam. Nearly killed while driving home from soccer at 11pm last night by an elderly woman speeding the wrong way down O' Connells St in Limerick. :rolleyes:

The roads. They are dangerous.

Ah no, the roads are grand. It's when you introduce other people there's a problem.

ectoraige · 12-10-2012 12:54pm

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Where can I find the whole set of the rules of the road and have a read? I find it hard to believe that there isn't anything specifically against the use of stereo earphones and headphones while driving.

On the continent there are specific rules against it. In Italy, it is forbidden to drive while wearing dual headphones or earphones, the penalty is a fine of 162 Euro and 5 penalty points (10 points get your license taken, so it's considered a heavy offense). On many safety aspects, believe it or not, the Irish road rules system is actually more advanced than the Italian one, so I really believe there must be something in there.

I have a Jabra Halo stereo bluetooth headset that I occasionally use while driving just for phone calls. They don't cancel ambient noise and although I don't use them for music for driving, I do in work and can still have conversations with people. I would have no reservation about using them while driving as they would be no more distracting than a loud radio. I would still be responsive to horns, HGVs and sirens. I can understand the problem with noise-cancelling "cans" though.

ShadowHearth · 12-10-2012 1:25pm

It should be banned.

Plus it should be banned for cyclist too.

Ardent · 12-10-2012 1:58pm

Not saying it's ok but I don't see how it's any different to having the in-car entertainment system turned up *really* loud? How do deaf drivers manage to cope without being able to hear their surroundings? At the end of the day it's all about observation skills, or lack thereof.

smcelhinney · 12-10-2012 2:00pm

100% agree. And only because of my own stupidity. I had headphones on, pulling out of Booterstown car park, drove over an island, tore my entire sill panel asunder, and cost myself nearly €2000 worth of damage.

Expensive lesson, but one well learnt.

Gargled · 12-10-2012 4:49pm

Ardent wrote: »

Not saying it's ok but I don't see how it's any different to having the in-car entertainment system turned up *really* loud? How do deaf drivers manage to cope without being able to hear their surroundings? At the end of the day it's all about observation skills, or lack thereof.

Maybe read the whole thread?

Drivers wearing headphones...

Should drivers wearing headphones be punsihed? 126 votes

Comments