Ipod Use Whilst Riding

i find a bike more technically challenging and after a long ride i am mentally drained, i dont get that in a car but like you say everyones diff.

It's not illegal, the plod shouldn't say a word about it, if they do tell them to go jump 'cos they've crossed the line between enforcing the law and advising on safety, into telling you how to live your life.

It doesn't distract me at all, but then I can sit and concentrate on work on my laptop with a two year old playing in the room. I only tend to realise the music is there on boring straight bits when usually I'd be thinking about how sore my ar$e was.

Since boredom contributes to rider fatigue, you could argue that for some riders in some situations like a long motorway run, it actually improves safety. Ever found yourself singing or talking to yourself struggling to maintain concentration and battle fatigue on a long run? I have, but never yet when I have had music on, I always try to have a good selection of stuff with good lyrics to sing along to on a long boring run.

I have sony fontopia in ear headphones which make a seal like an earplug, and I can hear them at any speed that I ride at. I'd love an in-helmet audio system with a 3.5mm jack that could plug into any accessory, but waiting 'til I have that money to burn.

So long as your not the kind of person where it distracts you (in which case why is it safe in the car?) the only problem that you could have with music, is that if you had an accident it could be deemed a contributing factor by somebody whose job it is to decide blame, probably sombody who has never sat on a motorbike and listens to music in his car every day.

how can it be illegal plods got a radio of sorts in his ear all the time

That's what i said to the guy but plod apparently told him to take it out or he'd be done for driving without due care or something... he got pulled for doing 30 in a 20 which he got away with.

Originally Posted by Thingus

That's what i said to the guy but plod apparently told him to take it out or he'd be done for driving without due care or something... he got pulled for doing 30 in a 20 which he got away with.

It's definately not illegal, causes no more of a distraction than a radio in a car and no more of an affliction on your hearing than a good pair of ear plugs and I assume the guy had not done anything to suggest it was affecting his riding or had any bearing on him doing 30 in a 20. The charge simply wouldn't stand up in court.

[yorkie_chris]

In that situation then it's far better to just say "oh I'm very sorry occifer I didn't know" and STFU!

Or unless you want to win the arguement and get the 3 points for speeding? Seems like a hollow victory that one

If listening to music is supposed to be distracting then what about rider to pillion intercoms? I'd have thought they were much worse. Yes you can argue they're a bit distracting but I think having a conversation in a car with a passenger nattering away is on the same level. As people say everyone is different and as long as you know how you react to such things then it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks.

I have always listened to music when riding, but I have to keep it down a bit so I can hear sirens- got pulled over once and was oblivious to the sirens- whoops!

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

In that situation then it's far better to just say "oh I'm very sorry occifer I didn't know" and STFU!

Or unless you want to win the arguement and get the 3 points for speeding? Seems like a hollow victory that one

Yeah, I wouldn't suggest arguing with the officer at the scene, just ride round the corner and put them back in, but if a copper did write me a ticket for it i'd be making my case in court (don't think you can get fixed penalty for due care anyway can you? Always a court case I think). I wouldn't lie down easily to one mans opinion of it being driving without due care. I'd be very interested to hear of anyone being convicted by a court when there was no evidence that it was affecting their riding. Now if Chakraist had been written a ticket it may have stood up as he didn't hear the sirens so the music clearly had some effect on his riding 'cos the volume was too high.

http://www.safermotoring.co.uk/using...e-driving.html

If you are involved in a crash and the police find evidence that you were distracted by the use of an electronic device then you leave yourself wide open to the prospect of being prosecuted by the police – and don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a minor offence because at best you’ll find yourself facing a fine and points on your licence. If the police believe that the accident occurred as a result of you failing to keep proper control of the vehicle, or driving without due care and attention then this could land you in Court.

The police have previously treated driving while distracted as careless driving, meaning that the motorist was guilty of not driving in a “competent and careful" way. This could lead to a maximum fine of £5,000 and penalty points on the offender’s licence. However, following a policy revision in December 2007,will now be treated as dangerous driving - meaning that the driver was “avoidably and dangerously distracted”. If charged and found guilty, drivers face a 2 year prison sentence. Take note that this policy revision does not relate specifically to mobile phones, it also applies to satellite navigation systems, iPods and MP3 players, and can be extended to similar devices that distract motorists from their driving.

It appears that there is no specific law against riding whilst listening to an iPod, and one could argue that listening to music is not distracting but using the buttons on the iPod would be.

However, should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident (where you were at fault or the innocent victim) then is does seem likely that you would not only leave yourself open to prosecution but also risk having any insurance payout reduced due to 'contributory negligence'.