Why do people drive unnecessarily large cars?

Will ya just stop with this. You’re essentially saying that it’s not beneficial to have your sense of hearing when cycling around what ye are claiming are very dangerous and busy streets with bad drivers everywhere . Do you realise how ridiculous that sounds, pardon the pun.

The fact is, as a vulnerable road user, you cannot tell from the size of the car whether it'll be
A) more likely to avoid a collision and
B) more likely to injure you if a collision does occur.

I'm not saying this is true across the board or anything, but a Range Rover is both less likely to hit you, and less likely to injure you as VRU, than the tiny VW up!

For any collisions there the mass of one object is orders of magnitude greater than the other, the limiting factor is the weight of the lighter object. This is why babies or cats can have big falls and be ok. Anyone who brings 1st year physics KE=0.5*M*V^2 into an argument about pedestrian collisions hasn't a clue what they're talking about. (although it's very relevant in car vs. car collisions). Where the pedestrian's chest and head impact the vehicle, and the size of the plastic crumple zones are absolutely key.

Also, much of the anti-SUV rhetoric and pedestrian death statistics you see online are from US studies. My "SUV" on the right here isn't much bitter than the Corrola on the far left. Take off the roof rails, and the it's only about 15cm higher than than a regular C-Class.

To not be able to understand that taking away one of a person's senses when operating and machine, he it a car, or a bicycle, is ridiculous.

Maybe the reason no one answered you is because the question you're asking is ridiculous and suggests you really have no understanding of how dangerous being on a road actually is.

To then claim that you don't understand the difference between wearing headphones and listening to a car stereo is equally ridiculous and probably goes a long way to explaining why no one is taking you seriously at all.

I’m 6’5” and used to be nearly as wide! Neither standard mini was been a problem for leg room and the doorway easier to access than a 7 series where my shoulders could not get through the doorway without rubbing off a pillar. I’m all for big cars but don’t let’s confuse than with roominess.

Would you think there's a difference between a cyclist using earphones and one using a Bluetooth speaker

Apparently - after googling it too - there is no specific law against it but typically a charge of driving without due care and attention would be used in such instances is my understanding.

Does anyone actually believe that drivers should/should be allowed to drive cars with headphones in their ears? As a driver, I find the idea of driving with headphones to be crazy and I had always assumed it was illegal.

I'm wondering why it should be different for cyclists?

But there's a major difference between using in-car speakers vs. using headphones. Frankly I've never even tried driving with headphones, but I'd imagine it would be dramatically more likely to cause distraction.

As has been correctly pointed out, driving a car while wearing headphones is expressly prohibited in some places and likely to expose a driver to a charge to the effect of careless driving in others.

So I'm wondering why cyclists should be held to different rules. And the only sensible comparison is to compare the same behaviours, i.e. driving/cycling while wearing headphones.

Perhaps. As I admitted, I do not know for certain what the laws are here and always just assumed it was against the law for a driver to drive wearing headphones, because it just seemed like a questionable thing to do.

But I don't think it's a good idea for either drivers or cyclists to wear headphones.

Why is anyone who drives a car with earphones a moron?

You're right, listening to a car audio system with the windows up blocks out more sound that listening with earphones on the bike, according to some trials done in Australia some years back

Because it limits your awareness of your surroundings while driving and limits reaction time and also response to Emergency Service vehicles.

Can you provide a link to the trail results that were performed?

Yes

Source please.