Originally Posted by
livedarklions
We really can't know from external appearances whether pedestrians are hearing impaired, and even if we announce, we need to allow sufficient space between us on the pass.
I can see when people are wearing head phones and the vast majority I've seen on paths handle it very sensibly by sticking to the right side of the path. I can only guess that that's probably true of hearing impaired people generally, but of course that's not something I can observe.
I have seen people on busy Boston paths wearing signs saying "deaf", but I don't think anyone should be required to do that.
It used to be a bit easier to see if someone were wearing headphones... but now wireless ear buds can make that assessment difficult... and if someone is "rocking out" to their favorite tunes, it would quite easy for them to not hear all but the loudest "signal" from someone arriving on a bike.