e-beach said:
wturber said:
Alertness is a mental state. Listening can only be a very small part of alertness because the amount of information it provides is so limited compared to vision.
So how is your hearing bro? A very small part? I still call b#!!s#!%. Sorry, but that is how I see it.
My hearing is quite good - when wind isn't rushing by my ears.
e-beach said:
And, I never denied that vision is important while riding.
I don't think I said or implied that you did.
e-beach said:
So I ask you this. Have you ever pulled up to an intersection, looked left to see if it is clear only to have your vision blocked by parked cars or other obstructions? Your vision won't tell you what is coming, but your ears might.
And my ears might not. I just don't go if I can't be sure. Also, since I'm on a bike I can usually see over most cars. Trucks present a bigger issue though. One of the nice things about an ebike is that stopping or nearly stopping in order to be sure the way is clear is easier to justify when you have a motor that helps getting back up to speed easier. Less temptation to do the unsafe thing and not be sure you have a safe path.
e-beach said:
Have you ever been on a curved part of a road where your mirror isn't showing what is behind you due to the curve? Your vision isn't going to save you, but your ears might.
No, they probably won't if you are traveling at any kind of decent speed. I deal with curved roads every day and I won't hear the rushing of the wind of a car very soon at all - so I constantly check my mirrors. If a car is coming up behind you, the important information is how they are driving. So if it is some idiot with his foot to the floor, your hearing might help warn you in that rare case. But headphones won't block that kind of noise - unless maybe its a Tesla in which case you wouldn't hear it anyway with the wind rushing in your ears.
e-beach said:
Have you ever been distracted by a sudden situation in front of you and suddenly there is a car horn blasting or tires screeching behind you necessitating a quick bail out maneuver to save from being hit? Where your reaction time couldn't allow for a careful check of a rear view mirror?
No. But I've had people suddenly lean on their horns right as they pass me which is super startling and caused me to reflexively tense up which momentarily reduced my bike control. Would have been better off if the sound was muted.
e-beach said:
As for hearing at speed, yes the faster one rides the more the rush of the wind can drown out traffic noise, but not all riders go fast all the time.
This is an ebike forum. I would expect 15 mph to be slower than typical. And at that speed, wind noise is already an issue.
e-beach said:
Around here, between the stop lights and stop signs I average 12 miles per hour. Not in speed, but in distance.
That makes no sense. 12 miles per hour is a speed, not a distance. That makes as much sense as me saying I went 10 miles fast.
e-beach said:
There is no reason for me or any of the other thousands of e-bike riders around here to go fast because we will only be stopped down the block most of the time. At 12mph, it is very easy to hear what is coming up behind you.
Based on the posts I've read here, that kind of speed is very much slower than average. But I agree that if you are going 12 mph or so your hearing isn't affected nearly as much. Nonetheless, your eyes are still by far the most important sense you have at your disposal for riding safety.
e-beach said:
IMO ones hearing is just as important as vision while riding.
OK. I'll plug my ears, put on circumaural headphones playing loud rock and roll or white noise to take my hearing completely out of the equation. You, OTOH, will have a blindfold and hood on. My safety will be virtually unaffected. You will be an accident waiting to happen. Deaf people ride bicycles. I don't think many blind people do.
Listen, if you are riding slowly in a highly congested dense area, hearing might be more of an asset to you than for me. But I don't think that situation is the more common or more general one. It certainly isn't my situation. The biggest issue with headphones and music or audio is the distraction that they might provide. I think that presents a far greater potential hazard than any reduction in the rider's ability hear road noise.
Yes, hearing can be useful. But I'll stick with my original position based on riding a bike for over fifty years. There are many things way more important than hearing if you want to ride safely.
