[matt8268]

I used 1 channel only to listen to a podcast. I wouldn't use both...too dangerous, you can't hear horns, cars, etc.

 

[gmbennett]

When I'm on my motorbike (not this time of year; it's cold up here, eh), I often wear a pair of ER6's instead of foam ear-plugs. I don't have to crank up the tunes too loud, and I can still hear traffic sounds loud enough to warrant attention (horns, sirens, etc.). They attenuate well and cut out the motor and wind noise that gives me a headache after an hour or so of unprotected riding.

Anybody interested in listening to tunes (in between cellular calls, gps alerts and bike-to-bike comms!) should do a search on advrider.com; some of those guys are pretty serious about their audio set-ups.

 

[bmclaurin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpippel Agree 100%. Interacting with your DAP while driving is dangerous, not listening to it with IEMs. Operating a motor vehicle is an almost 100% visual activity. If it weren't then the deaf wouldn't be issued driver's licenses.

I have to throw my agreement in here as well, although it appears that this view is the in the minority on this forum. I am one of the apparently few that occasionally uses my IEM's while driving. But I find that, at least *visually* speaking, I am actually *more* alert. At the relatively low volume level that I use in that situation, I feel confident that I would be able to hear a loud siren approaching my vehicle with my sf5pro's. But even if I couldn't, I am even more confident that I would be absolutely aware that it was approaching because I would *see* it. My .02.

 

[VR6ofpain]

This is beyond moronic, you won't hear other things on the road...and ILLEGAL...well in California at least...but I believe all of the states.

 

[swmtnbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VR6ofpain This is beyond moronic, you won't hear other things on the road...and ILLEGAL...well in California at least...but I believe all of the states.

Yes, I'm a moron. Thank you for pointing that out.

 

[CookieFactory]

Deaf people are allowed to drive. Case in point.

 

[DougGreenberg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpippel Agree 100%. Interacting with your DAP while driving is dangerous, not listening to it with IEMs. Operating a motor vehicle is an almost 100% visual activity. If it weren't then the deaf wouldn't be issued driver's licenses.

This debate has been revisited many times in other forums, including bicycle forums. The upshot: people who are deaf learn to compensate via visual cues over a period of years, decades even. Anyone who has worked with someone who is deaf becomes aware that hearing-impaired people are FAR more attuned to small visual signals than the rest of us are. You can't learn this level of visual awareness in a matter of minutes or hours, or conjure it up for a short time when you feel like it.

 

[fureshi]

i've done it a few times on extended drives. yes, i suppose it could be dangerous but considering how loud my car is and with turning up the stereo to drown out the sound of the engine, it's almost the same thing as me using my e2c. on highway 5 on the drive from san jose to LA, it's straight and miles of nothing so as long as you're attentive, you won't miss a thing. around town i wouldn't do it though. there are too many unknowns, too many things coming at you from all directions.

 

[CookieFactory]

If you're relying on someone to honk their horn to alert you to a bad merge situation, you're a pretty bad driver in the first place.

 

[swmtnbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DougGreenberg This debate has been revisited many times in other forums, including bicycle forums. The upshot: people who are deaf learn to compensate via visual cues over a period of years, decades even. Anyone who has worked with someone who is deaf becomes aware that hearing-impaired people are FAR more attuned to small visual signals than the rest of us are. You can't learn this level of visual awareness in a matter of minutes or hours, or conjure it up for a short time when you feel like it.

The level of visual acuity needed to drive effectively and safely isn't something that's unique to the hearing-impaired. I don't care how good you're "attuned to small visual signals" - if an emergency vehicle is blaring it's siren at you from a blind spot and you can't hear then you will not be aware of it. However, that's not the point here. Semi-truck drivers, motorcylcists wearing helmets, drivers with loud music blaring - ALL of these situations impair hearing as much as or more than someone listening to music with IEMs. We share the road with thousands of such drivers EVERY SINGLE DAY, yet I don't see anyone referring to these people as "moronic".

 

[Max Minimum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VR6ofpain This is beyond moronic, you won't hear other things on the road...

Please keep it civil.

I've tried it and there are things you can hear and things you can't. I don't do it anymore because it is no longer beneficial for me. Then I did, though, I was able to hear people blowing their horns at one another, a traffic-cop's whistle and the chirp of tires a few cars ahead of me as he went around a corner too fast. I should note, however, that I was using Ety ER-4P's and that I had inserted them to the semi-famous 'fake' seal position rather than going for a deep seal. The bass suffered a bit, but it did let some sound in. From what most people say, this is approximately the same amount of isolation Shure's provide.

 

[JB.]

I regularly drive in commute traffic in the most congested areas of Los Angeles while talking on the phone, smoking a cigarette, eating a McBurger and fries with at least two kinds of dipping sauce (hot mustard and BBQ, generally), and steering with my knees. However, I would never use headphones while driving, it's just plain reckless!

 

[wanderman]

I usually use my iems while I drive on the worng soide of the rode with my eyes closed. It is a very effective anti existence technique. I hope none of you take 400 to get to work hehe.

-wander...man

 

[Max Minimum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wanderman I usually use my iems while I drive on the worng soide of the rode with my eyes closed. It is a very effective anti existence technique. I hope none of you take 400 to get to work hehe. -wander...man

Ha! Another Atlantan? Perhaps we'll run into one another on the road, literally.

 

[Purgatos]

I don't drive at all.