CliffordK

The woman apparently didn't hit the truck, but rather the curb. The article said she " fell fracturing her skull and spinal cord". One doesn't really fracture one's spinal cord, but rather the spine. I'm guessing cervical spine. A helmet may or may not have helped in this case. A cervical spine fracture probably means twisting her neck pretty bad.

As far as headphones... I can't say. I do roundabouts from time to time. If she was entering the roundabout, then she should have looked for traffic in the system before entering, as well as keeping track of traffic while in the roundabout.

Headphones may have both distracted the rider, and reduced the ability to hear vehicles... still, glancing over the shoulder should be easy enough.

I found this a while ago.



What has never been clear to me is whether the city was encouraging cyclists to wear a helmet, or to wear headphones.

FBinNY 

My point exactly. It's not the coroner's job to raise hypothetical unsupported questions in the subjunctive mood. He could just as easily said, "if she'd been riding just a bit faster she would not have been in the intersection at the same time as the lorry".

linberl

Not all earphones are created equally. There are noise isolating earbuds, which I happily wear to listen to music at home, but would never wear out biking or walking. I do ride with earbuds - Plantronics Backbeat Fit - which are not noise isolating at all. They let in all ambient sounds and the music is really more background music. The are not distracting and do not remove one from their surroundings. The sound quality is adequate, and I like having something to set a rhythm to my cadence. They also have a volume limit. I can hear cars, people talking, etc., but in some ways I hate the new electric cars because you get no audio warning from them (nearly been hit by people backing out of driveways while walking my dog).
Listening to music is not going to make one incapable of looking around, unlike driving or cycling while reading a text.

canklecat

One does not simply popcorn or tl;dr ones own thread.

coominya

Years ago when guys started to ride motorcycles with MP3 payers and earbuds I thought they were mad! I tried it once way out country on a flat road and nearly dropped the bike on the first corner. They were crazy. Now some years later I love listening to rock on rides, even in light traffic. I discovered I could tune it in and out of my consciousness as needed. Would I ever use the MP3 player on my bicycles? HELL no! At least not this year

Trueblood

Didn't distort anything, the title of the thread is the title of the Telegraph article, no more, no less. Cut and paste.

Trueblood

You've got the dr part down.

Gweedo1

Proper ear plugs are those that won't "tent" your ear drum, stay put, are comfortable and dull wind noise and exhaust noise etc. Which type works best for you is something you'll have to find out through trial and error. But to ride with no ear plugs is inviting hearing problems, as is riding with ear phones while listening to music IMO, and that's not to mention the dangers from not concentrating on your riding because you're zoning out to some tune...the subject of this thread.

I have read mixed reviews on custom made ear plugs for decades now, with poor results in terms of fit and efficacy just as likely as good results. For me, after years of experimenting with various types of ear plugs, albeit never with customised plugs, what works best with me is cheap-ass orange foam ear plugs, wetted by my saliva before being snugly inserted is the key as is reusing the same ones for years. They stay put, are easy on my ear drum, and dull wind sounds and exhaust sounds nicely. YMMV but don't stop wearing ear plugs when you ride. You will damage your hearing.

rumrunn6

seemed insensitive & light hearted. that was someone's sister, daughter, fiance & mother etc.

Gweedo1

One wonders if the coroner is biased against cyclists by making statements like that.

All accidents are avoidable.

The "lorry" driver said he didn't see her. Right there, he's at fault. He should have seen her. Why didn't he? No mention was made of her visibility. Was she using a light? How much day light was there? Did she have reflectors? How fast was the truck going? Those seem the more pertinent issues.

The ear phones, unless it can be proven they were being worn, are a bi-line. I think the coroner's decision should be reviewed, and if I was a member of her family, I would demand it. He reached his conclusion on speculation.

Gweedo1

Not nearly the same.

The absence of sound may increase situational awareness, not reduce it.

Modern vehicles have technology that automatically lowers sound system volumes as braking is applied.

I'll let you figure out why that is.

wphamilton

I tried that back in the 70's. Not an MP3 player obviously, but a small speaker in the helmet jacked into a portable cassette player. I couldn't get into it, only used it once or twice, but I don't recall that it posed any difficulty in riding. Later on I wired a car stereo in with external speakers and that was pretty awesome.

Bluetooth earbuds paired with the smartphone is so much better

Coroners don't normally determine causes of accidents. Alternate UK realities aside, I am skeptical of this story.

mr_bill

HGV enters, operator looks right.
Never sees the person on a bicycle (at the location of the red car).
Bicycle and HGV close together at exit.
Crash at the traffic cone.

Coroner states HGV operator "totally exonerated."
Coroner states “I cannot determine if she was on her iPhone listening with earphones at the time, but if she had been, it could have caused a distraction and could have contributed to the cause of the accident.”

-mr. bill

mr_bill

-mr. bill

mr_bill

We don't know if she was using a light.
It was ~7:40am on June 23, 2016, the sun rose at 4:43 and set at 21:38 - it was a clear sunny day.
The Coroner testified that:

• The bicycle did not have a front reflector
• A bolt was missing on a loose bicycle bell
• The front brake was defective, which could have been a manufacturing defect
• The bicycle was in lowest gear

-mr. bill

xraydog

I tried riding with earbuds or in ear headphones. I didn't like not hearing the sounds around me, particularly not hearing cars. I recently purchased a set of bone conduction headphones (see link below). They are wireless (bluetooth) and worn in front of your ear so you can still hear ambient sounds. They work great and don't give you that sound isolation feel. Since they have a microphone built in they also allow you to answer your phone if you feel obliged.

https://www.amazon.com/Aftershokz-AS...tion+headphone

Gweedo1

He certainly seems determined to blame the cyclist, nit picking the condition of the bicycle like that. No reflector on a bright, sun lit day means what exactly? A loose bell means what exactly? No mention of the truck's mechanical condition?

It seems to me he's looking for evidence to support his forgone, anti-cyclist conclusion.

A sunlit day, and the driver didn't see her?

jeichelberg87

I cannot state this for a certainty, but I believe it offered the OP the opportunity to utilize the popcorn icon.

Maybe he will be kind enough to provide a more definitive answer.

ETA: I see he did provide an answer. He did not read the article in its entirety and simply copied and pasted the article title.

So, the article title itself is misleading in that the coroner could not make such a statement as he had no definitive evidence of headphone use being a factor.

Leisesturm

This!

FullGas

actually, it's possible to generate sufficient impact to sustain a fatal head injury simply falling from a standing height with no 'speed' involved.

google 'fatal ground level falls'...

texaspandj

I had a similar experience when I started both biking and running. From day one I've ridden with ear buds no problem. But after airing up tires, filling up water bottles, putting on cycling shorts,helmet,sun glasses,gloves and the aforementioned ear buds, I decided putting on running shoes and shorts was simple and I didn't want to spoil it with ear buds. Finally one day I decided to try them and I felt slightly disoriented and unsafe. 15 years later I tried again to run with ear buds and No problem. Now I bike and run with ear buds.
To OP, per beer commercial, I don't always agree with @FBinNY but when I do its because....he's finally right.

Leisesturm

Obviously we didn't need this thread. I mean.... wth... but, reading some of the posts... many of you are missing an important detail about headphone use. Every post that I have read about why using headphones is, or isn't, that big a deal, focuses on the hearing aspect of headphone use. Comparisons with hard of hearing or deaf cyclists etc. What about the distraction aspect? Not all of us are stoic enough to resist the urge to get lost in the dance track that really hits your groove thang. If your shuffle sequence slots that track into play, just as the F150 beside you pulls a Jack Move... ... "Breaking News: cyclist... ...".

It has to have been the case that, over the years, a significant number of the injured or killed cyclists have only the fact that they were zoned i.e. distracted by the music coming through their earbuds. They could hear just fine, they simply could not (momentarily) process other inputs <screeeeech...> at the time.

As cyclists... human cyclists... we will lapse our judgement and/or vigilance from time to time. Drivers too, but the bar is a lot lower when you have a reinforced steel cage around your body. Is this debatable? The Universe gives each of us a finite number of "oops" do overs before "game over". I choose not to waste any of mine by deliberately doing things that diminish my judgement. IMO up to a 10mi commute in urban/suburban conditions should be engaging (challenging) enough in its own right to serve as sufficient stimulation of the mind and body. In rural or protected (park) situations, of course, why not a little musical soundtrack if that's your thing. Do you see the difference?

I have had the same helmet since 2008. It doesn't have so much as a scratch on it. I've crashed 3 times since 2008. I've been riding since at least 1970 and riding hard since 1977. Helmets? I don't think I heard about a thing called a bike helmet until maybe 1988. And I didn't actually buy one until forced to in 2008 by the group ride policy of the bike club I joined then. My point: if something bad happened to me on a ride on which I was NOT wearing my helmet... what do you think the coroner would say? You know how people are. From time to time I still go helmetless on short trips and on each one, someone somewhere is sure to say "where's your helmet, buddy?!

Same with flashers, or lights. I have logged hundreds of hours Ninja, and I know that more goes into safety and survival than how much safety equipment you carry around. But you will not convince Law Enforcement or the average non-cyclist about it. Don't even try.

So... it's simple. Don't get hurt (or killed) on a bicycle without your helmet, without lights or while wearing headphones. As you can see, doing so will be considered as evidence of your likely culpability in your own demise. This could possibly have implications when it comes to matters of money, like legal contests, health or life insurance protections, estate settlement.

superdex

her tragedy had nothing to do with headphones. can we read a little and stop biting every sensationalistic headline?

jefnvk

I was at the WCHA college hockey playoffs this year. One of the refs was standing out on the ice during warmups without a helmet, fell and hit his head on the ice, and sadly passed away a few days later in hospital. You can very easily die from nothing more than hitting your head from a 5' fall.

In any case, if she obliviously ran out into traffic she didn't see, the headphones were very easily a contributing factor in her diminished situational awareness.

JoeyBike

Purposely impairing or removing one of your senses while operating a bicycle around motor vehicles is just adding unnecessary risk. I defend your right to add risk. Too many people on this planet anyway.

.
.
.