AndyW
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 10:50 AM |
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headphones whilst driving?
Has anyone or does anyone wear headphones whilst driving? In particular longer distances. I have seen a vid with someone driving a seven wearing them
and was curious as to how affective they are for listening to music.
Is it a good idea?
When I drove to Le Mans last year I used some earplugs and must say they worked a treat, just thought about listening to some music but don't
want to have to have it on full blast to hear anything.
Any suggestions or what type, make and price would be great
Thanks
Andy
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joneh
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 11:52 AM |
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Doesn't sound like a good idea to me....
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loggyboy
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 12:19 PM |
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I was under the impression this was illegal. Just 1 ear piece for phone allowed. Any other reason would be a distraction from sounds you need to hear.
Mistral Motorsport
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CosKev3
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 12:36 PM |
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If it is illegal I wish the Police would start pulling chavs over with big stupid earphones on driving 
I've never understood loud music in cars either, as imo you need all your senses to drive properly/safely.
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Slimy38
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 12:54 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by AndyW
Has anyone or does anyone wear headphones whilst driving? In particular longer distances. I have seen a vid with someone driving a seven wearing them
and was curious as to how affective they are for listening to music.
Is it a good idea?
When I drove to Le Mans last year I used some earplugs and must say they worked a treat, just thought about listening to some music but don't
want to have to have it on full blast to hear anything.
Any suggestions or what type, make and price would be great
Thanks
Andy
If earplugs worked well, it's likely you'll have trouble finding headphones that are loud enough. I managed to find some that are
basically a mouldable earplug with a hole through the middle, even they were difficult to hear.
I don't believe they are illegal though, I think at best it would be driving without due care and attention.
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Talon Motorsport
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 02:20 PM |
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Can I just point out that deaf people drive cars too and any thing that needs to get past you has blue flashing lights because you all use your
mirrors, right?
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bi22le
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 02:42 PM |
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I have a intercom that has two speakers built into my crash helmet. On long distances i wear ear plugs and listen to the radio. My car is loud at 70
so this is just to take the edge off.
I doubt i would hear a police car approaching at speed. But i know this and drive sensibly.
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1
Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I
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joneh
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 03:03 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Talon Motorsport
Can I just point out that deaf people drive cars too and any thing that needs to get past you has blue flashing lights because you all use your
mirrors, right?
I believe it's more to do with the distraction.
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wilkingj
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 03:28 PM |
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I did this about 35 years ago.. You can't hear the engine or road noise, and will tend to drive faster.
Haven't done it since.
Whilst its not illegal (deaf people can get driving licences) you could be done for driving without due care and attention, as your attention is
diverted elsewhere.
Same as they could do you (due care and attention) for using your mobile phone before they made Phone usage a specific offence.
Its really not a good idea for the driver to be distracted in any way shape or form.
Dont do it.... You know it makes sense!
Geoff
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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ken555
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 04:16 PM |
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I use "rally practice headsets" off the intercom while on long journeys.
MP3 player and sat nav played into them.
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dave_424
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 04:21 PM |
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People are saying that headphones will distract you etc. what about when you are driving along blasting your favourite tune in a tin top? Also if you
are prepared to wear earplugs then headphones can't be much worse
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Slimy38
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 04:35 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by dave_424
People are saying that headphones will distract you etc. what about when you are driving along blasting your favourite tune in a tin top? Also if you
are prepared to wear earplugs then headphones can't be much worse
Earplugs are slightly different, the reduction of painful frequencies actually improves awareness believe it or not. I've pretty much always
used them on my bike, the few times I've not used them really changes my perceptions as I'm just dealing with the discomfort of the noise.
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spiderman
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 05:48 PM |
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Cyclists take note. I work with a lot of military personnel and they ride there cycles to work to keep themselves fit, many of them wired into mp3
players etc and 2 killed, 1 paralysed and countless serious injuries in under 2 years. It's not all down to the distraction of the music but
added to the state of the potholes on our roads they swerve to avoid damaging their expensive wheels and may not be aware of what's trying to
get past them.
Having been a cyclist and motorcyclist I do give them plenty of room when passing but many do not, I have seen some horrific things in my time in the
military but seeing a college trapped under the wheel of a tipper lorry's front wheel and pushed along the road is not something I ever want to
see again.
I know cyclist are very venerable but there ain't a lot of crash protection in a Locost/kit car. It's your life and you must live as you
wish but please bare in mind those you may leave behind and those who may kill or cripple you through you being distracted as they are the ones who
have to live with the aftermath.
When I'm driving, I'm driving not doing anything else like listening to music, texting, watching youtube on my phone, doing my hair in the
mirror (not being sexist as I see more blokes checking out their gelled/waxed hair than ladies do) I like to concentrate on what I am doing and
anticipating what others may do. After all a car is a lethal weapon in the wrong hands just like a firearm.
Rant over, have fun but stay safe.
Spider
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 06:42 PM |
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spiderman - I hear what you're saying...
As far as I'm concerned, if you wear headphones while you are driving you leave yourself wide open to being stopped by the police - you could be
charged with "driving without due care and attention". You may be in full control, totally aware of what's going on around you, but
could you convince the magistrate when you're up on a charge?
Personally I wouldn't take the chance.
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Simon
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 06:46 PM |
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Well, having ridden motorcycles over the years, I can't see the problem with earphones - above not a lot of speed you can hear diddly squat over
wind noise (I even had occassion to use my horn on more than one occassion and even that being 3' from my ears, couldn't hear it).
When I went to Brighton in the TF last year I had mp3/earphones in (no stereo) - worked a treat, just make sure your mirror work is up to scratch. I
suspect that with roof down and earphones in, I can hear more than a tin top with stereo on.
ATB
Simon
[Edited on 21/2/15 by Simon]
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snapper
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 07:24 PM |
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I have a set of Com Tac ear defenders that have mice built in, you can select a giant sound level, the defenders will clip sound at a safe level.
You can buy voice mice, tactical radio attachments that would take an input that a MP3 could use and still have ambient sound
I eat to survive
I drink to forget
I breath to pi55 my ex wife off (and now my ex partner)
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spiderman
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 08:25 PM |
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I had a job fitting hands free kits to vehicles and would get calls from work asking me if I was near my next appointment usually when I was looking
for street names and would often drive past the street I wanted whilst talking to the secretary because I was distracted. I know there are more able
people than myself at concentrating on doing two things at once so even with a hands free kit I would only answer it in very slow or stationary
traffic.
I'm sure many of us have been following a car when the driver receives a call and their speed suddenly decreases because they are trying to
concentrate on two things at once.
I know listening to music is different as your not using your brain to to formulate a response to questions but when I did listen to music whilst
driving my driving style changed according to the type of music I was listening to. I know everyone is different and some more capable than others but
I chose to concentrate on my driving because I know distractions do effect my driving. I have been told by my passengers on occasion that I'm
antisocial when driving because I hardly even talk to them especially in traffic, mind you that might not be the only reason, I'd rather drive
than talk.
I think the wearing of ear defenders is a good thing as it's not that you can't hear what's behind you that is important,
it's the distraction of the music/phone call is the problem. We all know that if you ask a computer to do 2 or more things at once it completes
the processes slower than it would if just doing a single task so it is the same with the brain. I think ear defenders are a good thing on a bike or
noisy car as excessive noise is also a distraction that your brain will try to shut out.
I don't want to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't do just relaying my personal experiences.
I just want people to have fun, safely.
Spider
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Talon Motorsport
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| posted on 21/2/15 at 08:25 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by snapper
I have a set of Com Tac ear defenders that have mice built in, you can select a giant sound level, the defenders will clip sound at a safe level.
You can buy voice mice, tactical radio attachments that would take an input that a MP3 could use and still have ambient sound
If you have that level rodent infestation in your head set I would be looking at getting a cat or a spell checker programme...... lol
warning may contain speelling nistakes.
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james h
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| posted on 22/2/15 at 02:07 AM |
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I tried it once in the Indy. BEC + no windscreen, even with a helmet needed the volume to be turned to max, and I still couldn't really hear my
music. After 10 miles I felt sorry for my eardrums and have never used earphones since in the kit car.
I have better sealing in-ear Soundmagic E10s, and I suspect these would work more effectively at reducing buffeting and engine noise.
In the tin-top I only use headphones as a handsfree device (the bundled ones with my phone are very leaky so don't reduce my awareness of the
outside world much, if at all).
I'd definitely like to give a noise cancelling intercom a go though... hand signals between passengers and I can all too easily be seen from the
outside world in an open car.
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Hodor
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| posted on 22/2/15 at 08:24 AM |
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On dragons den the other week there was a pitch for some moldable plug in earphones. The stuff is like a silicone putty that you mould round the ear
piece then insert in your ear and push the silicone into all the nooks and crannies. They reckoned it makes it stay in your ear better but I wondered
if it would also give a better exclusion of outside noise too. Can't recall name of it mind. Didn't get funded either.
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motorcycle_mayhem
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| posted on 22/2/15 at 09:12 AM |
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I use a Peltor (Sparco) Helmet with the middy BEC. Built in ear defenders, that I (understand) are there for the insertion of communication devices.
It's essential, it's part of the driving kit. Otherwise the induction roar (etc.) inches away from your head will render your ears
painfully unbearable. If I'm silly enough not to wear these, even after a quick 'blast' it takes days for the ringing to ebb
away.
I think the R1 (5VY) is particularly gruesome in this regard, probably the insane RPM and the way the power comes in at the top end. In the Jedi, the
deafness was the same, or worse.. The GSXR1000 lump didn't do quite the same ear destruction job.
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spiderman
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| posted on 22/2/15 at 03:42 PM |
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My trade is a communications technician and have repaired many a Peltor active headset which are excellent. I also get asked to make up ear defenders
from the spare parts, for my colleges that like to go clay pigeon shooting. I don't know if they do any active ear defenders that will fit
inside a crash helmet unless you wish to purchase a helmet that helicopter pilots use (probably very expensive).
Protecting your ears from excessive noise is a must, as many of us on here probably suffer from tinnitus to one degree or another and it's not
funny and that's why it's known as the "suicide disease" as many who get it contemplate ending it all in the first twelve
months of contracting the condition.
Damage to your ear drum can lead to a benign growth in your ear which is corrosive and will eat anything in its path, flesh,bone ,nerves etc and
because it dissolves the space around itself you may not notice it as it will not cause any pressure in your ear.
I had one from damaging my eardrum about 30 years ago and all I noticed was increasing deafness in that ear I also started to get horrific neuralgia
which I did not associate with my ear, however after seeing a specialist it was put down to a cholesteatoma growth which had destroyed the protective
sheath for my facial nerve, eaten the bones in my middle ear and whilst waiting for my op, ate it's way into the base of my skull releasing
cerebral fluid out of my ear. I had an emergency operation, plugged up the holes, new titanium ear bones, skin and bone grafts. It wasn't until
I had a check up that I realised how lucky I had been as the doctor said if I had waited until my scheduled operation, which was less than a week away
from the emergency one, I was told "you probably would not have made it to that point" he also apologised that my tinnitus had got a
little worse, I laughed and said that it was better to suffer that than be six foot under.
I feel very lucky to have got away with just having tinnitus as an after effect, I have regained a lot of my hearing, balance and don't have
any problems with facial paralysis and I'm ALIVE.
So if you have ever damaged your hearing and have ear infections or other problems like neuralgia get to a doctor, better to be safe than sorry.
JOKE: I phoned the tinnitus help line the other day but it just kept ringing!
So to sum up have fun but stay safe and be HAPPY. 
All the best to you all.
P.S. Sorry about the punctuation and bad english but on the scale of things that are important in my life, it figures quite low on the list of
priorities.
Spider
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Angel Acevedo
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| posted on 24/2/15 at 05:01 AM |
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Silicon Putty has been used for years by swimmers...
I wonder what the replies from the dragons were
Beware of what you wish.. for it may come true....
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ed1801
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| posted on 24/2/15 at 06:55 AM |
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On my mbike I used to use sennheiser cx400s and cx200s. They reduced the noise massively and I could listen to quiet music. They are in ear ones which
seal like ear plugs and cost twenty quid or something. I would have been deaf through wind noise otherwise, the wind noise was also very fatigue
inducing, so I would argue safer.
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 24/2/15 at 04:00 PM |
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I don't think music is a distraction issue - phone calls maybe (certainly some people don't seem able to drive and talk at the same time,
I've never really struggled to pause the talking rather than the driving concentration?) but music be it in-ears or over speakers, is no more
distracting than any other sound.
The big problem comes from the fact that people don't treat driving with the concentration it deserves - sticky junction? Stop talking until you
clear it if you can't talk and drive.
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