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It isn't clear that headphones make pedestrians/cyclists less safe.Traffic noise in busy urban areas would make it unlikely that headphones would mask any usefu
by upofadown 7y ago
It isn't clear that headphones make pedestrians/cyclists less safe.Traffic noise in busy urban areas would make it unlikely that headphones would mask any useful auditory information.
I even heard of one study that concluded that the music actually increased awareness and focus.
- notacoward 7y agoHigher traffic noise makes it more likely that the one engine or horn that you need to hear will be masked by all the others. Any kind of noise, including the music people play through their headphones, will have that effect. Headphones reduce the amount of ambient sound one hears, they interfere with interpretation (e.g. localization of sound), and they even interfere with response to even non-auditory stimuli. People wear headphones all day in open offices precisely because they decrease awareness of the environment. Please follow some of the references in the introduction of this document to learn more. https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/59823/MAY-THESIS-2018.pdf https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/59823/MAY-... "Not clear" indeed. It just doesn't get much clearer.
- upofadown 7y agoI don't think that I am the one that has to do the work to disprove my own contention... :) You have to make your own point and provide either actual arguments or actual references. You can't just point to a semi-random list of references.