Accidents due to listening to music

Polly-Polly wrote (see)

It does make me wonder how the Hell we all manage to drive with radios/CDs in the car.  Maybe they should be banned, too?  And, before a queue forms consisting of people who would ban them, consider that we would also have to gag children, too!!!  iPods/MP3 players do NOT cause accidents.  It's the misuse of them that does.  It's rather like saying speed kills.  Wrong.  Inappropriate driving kills.  But some people will always look for mitigating circumstances.

Polly-Polly wrote (see)

It does make me wonder how the Hell we all manage to drive with radios/CDs in the car.  Maybe they should be banned, too?  And, before a queue forms consisting of people who would ban them, consider that we would also have to gag children, too!!!  iPods/MP3 players do NOT cause accidents.  It's the misuse of them that does.  It's rather like saying speed kills.  Wrong.  Inappropriate driving kills.  But some people will always look for mitigating circumstances.

surely speeding is inappropriate drving, as the limit is there for a reason.

And speed does kill.

It may or may not be the cause of many accidents, but it sure affects the outcome.

Speed kills? Where does this come from? there is no evidence or research that supports this.

Speed does not kill. Speed does not effect the outcome of injury in accidents. What does is how and where a person is hit or physically injured. Speed plays no part in this.

There has been extensive study to support this.

A driver driving at 40 mph is 4x more situationally aware than a driver driving at 20mph. A driver driving at 80 mph is 4x more situationally aware than a driver driving at 40 mph.  Double the speed, square the acuity. The human brain does this. More accidents occur at lower speeds because drivers are less aware.

More accidents happen as a result of drivers driving too slowly than drivers driving too fast.

Surely a low speed accident is less likely to kill than a high speed one. Double the speed, square the energy.
Otherwise would there not be a very high minimum speed limit?

Anyway, it looks like this thread has been hi-jacked & I think I'm off-topic here.

gingerbread mouse wrote (see)

Speed does not effect the outcome of injury in accidents. What does is how and where a person is hit or physically injured. Speed plays no part in this.

Back to this point about accidents with headphones. I listen to music all the time when training, but never at all on race day. I just love to hear the crowds, the other people around me, so music is just something i dont need. But while training. I have never had an accident with headphones, mostly because i am street smart. You look around you, whats going on. Approach a road turning, your senses become heightened. You have this 1000 yard stare. I nearly got hit by a car pulling out of his driveway, but that was him not paying attention, and could easily have happened, if i didnt have headphones on.

Bottom line, you run with headphones, you do it carefully. When i do an organised run and see other people with headphones on, i dont stear clear of them, but experience shapes you, so if i had a bad experience with someone, then i probably would. I always find, that if you get your right place in the crowd, then people with headphones dont become a problem anyway.

Actually my closest accident to date on an organised run was a guy who didnt have headphones, and dropped his plastic water bottle deliberately and i had to do my Mario Donkey Kong to avoid it, and the 20 others behind me.

I'm with ghostrunner on this one, I train with an MP3 and increase my situational awareness and as much as I can look far in advance and try to predict events as of course you can slow down or stop as one of the avoiding actions.

Now a race in my opinion is a different environment, I am trying to get the best time I can which means I rely more on race officials and to wear an MP3 not only distracts me generally but reduces my senses that I need when running at speed, and I have in the past shouted track or some other alert when I am coming up behind them at pace, they tend to move over but on one occassion the unfortunate person who was wearing a headphone did get an unceremonious glancing shoulder barge when I went past as he was drifting around side to side and I had to make a decision which side to go and he decided to move back into my path at the last moment.

I sometimes train wth music this generally on longer runs. I concentrate more in terms of looking around me and slowing for junctions and if possible looking at junctions and anticipating what is happening just like I would when driving.

 A couple of tales though at a slightly OT. I once worked in a gym and the plant room was upstairs next to the gym and something in there went and smoke started coming out. Normally if the fire alarm goes trying to move the members out was like trying to predict the lottery numbers; almost impossible. On this occasion almost everyone went straight to the fire exits. Apart from those with headphones who were on the treadmill obviously didn't hear the fire alarm, nor saw or smelt the smoke coming from the plant room next to them!

The other one (I don't think I was using headphones) was whilst I was riding my bike in York, for those of you who know York it was just past the train station at the junction with Windmill pub. I was in the cycle lane and there was this bus. Something told me beware and so I stopped where I was lucky I did as the bus came into the cycle lane right where I would have been.

Moral of the story be wary of the things around you as other people are stupid and will cause you the injury.

As much as I hate to say this, I kinda agree with Intermanaut... for every account of an iplodder side stepping in front of you at races there will be more of the at one with natures doing it (purely down to the ratio of ipod wearers to at one with nature type runners).  If you're in a crowded race/on a narrow path accept it there is more than likely going to be a twunt not paying any attention ahead of you...unless you're at the very front of course.

I used to wear headphones for training, I don't anymore as I train with Mr CS and the only times (and there's been a few) I've nearly been mowed down by either a bike on the canal towpath or a car when I'm crossing the road is when I've been an iPod free zone... purely because I've been so at one with what I'm doing I've been obvlivious to everything else... actually I'm a sod for looking but not paying attention when I'm crossing a side street.

Cockney Latic wrote (see)

I had a bit of a bad fall this morning whilst running wearing headphones - but I think it was more to do with a dodgy paving stone. Do I win a prize?

I'll give you a fiver, if you were listening to Pavement. 

Gingerbread mouse, the very first thing you are taught when you start  your trauma training as a medic is that the biggest factor in what kills or injures a person is velocity/speed. Speed and mass are important but the higher the speed the higher the chance of severe injury or death. Hence why you have different velocity guns!  A bullet wont kill you or hurt you if you chuck it at someone but it will if shot from a high velocity rifle.

 Anyways, I use headphones and MP3s when I run on my own in training, and have used them when runing on road marathons, but not when iv had a training partner or during trail races. I'v not had any problems or near misses with anyone. I think I actually look and shoulder check more when I have earphones in than when I do not.

Ghostrider wrote (see)

You have this 1000 yard stare. I nearly got hit by a car pulling out of his driveway, but that was him not paying attention, and could easily have happened, if i didnt have headphones on.