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Oregon politicians propose new bike trailer and headphone offences

No kids under six in trailers and no music on the move

While cyclists in New York City are up in arms about the suggestion that they should register their bikes and carry number plates, on the other side of the US in Oregon, some equally questionable legislation has been floated.

Two proposed bills have sparked a reaction from the state’s cyclists on the basis that if enacted, they would ban the carrying of children younger than six years of age either in a trailer or on a bike seat and, separately, make the wearing of earphones while cycling an offence.

Oregon state Representative Mitch Greenlick, a professor of public health at the Oregon Health Sciences University is behind the trailer proposal.  He claims: "We've just done a study showing that 30 percent of riders biking to work at least three days a week have some sort of crash that leads to an injury.

"When that's going on out there, what happens when you have a four-year-old on the back of a bike? From a precautionary principle, I felt it was important to discuss the issue and start a debate."

Jonathan Maus from bikeportland.org points out: “Rep. Greenlick has decided that the way to open a debate on an issue is to propose a new law. We have seen this repeatedly backfire in Oregon.

“In July of 2008, Senator Floyd Prozanski planned a mandatory, all-ages helmet law. After hearing a lot negative feedback about that idea, he wisely pulled the idea out of consideration.

“In March 2009, Representative Wayne Krieger proposed a mandatory bicycle registration bill. After hundreds of upset emails and phone calls came into his office, the bill ended up dying in committee.”

Maybe there’s a lesson there for Councillor Ulrich who proposes a similar scheme in New York.

Meanwhile on the headphones issue, the bill filed by Representative Michael Schaufler would create a new offence for "unsafe operation of a bicycle,” which would be committed if the person “operates a bicycle on a highway while wearing a listening device that is capable of receiving telephonic communication, radio broadcasts or recorded sounds."

The offence would come with a maximum fine of $90. Bikeportland.org spoke to Representative Schaufler, who said his reason for proposing the bill is simple: "I just saw some guy driving down the street on their bike with their headphones on and thought, 'He could get run over.' It's a safety issue. It's pretty cut and dry. It's a very simple, very basic concept."

Simple and basic. Yes, we can see how that might appeal to Mr Schaufler.
 

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11 comments

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OldRidgeback | 13 years ago
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While I'm against a ban on wearing earphones while riding, I agree that wearing them while riding in traffic is a bad idea. it's not the same as listening to music in a car, unless as at maximum volume. The problem with those bud type earphones is that they do blanket out other sounds and concentrate the sound from the stereo in the ear. They also pose an issue for long term hearing loss. Only if a car stereo is played at high volume does it pose the same kind of risk. Banning that would be difficult of course. There is plenty of evidence pointing to the health and safety risks posed by earphones and overly loud music. As for earplugs worn by motorcyclists, these are used for higher speed journeys rather than for commuting in town traffic. At speeds over 60mph or so, the noise generated by air flowing past a motorcycle helmet begins to exceed that recommended for long term health. In other words, a motorcyclist will wear earplugs for longer trips on the motorway and not in town. That's what I do anyway. Any motorcyclist who wears bud type earphones to listen to music while riding is doubly stupid if you ask me. These have the combined effects of deafening the rider due to the concentration of sound within the helmet, while vastly reducing safety by cutting perception levels and introducing driver distraction factors.

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davebinks | 13 years ago
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It could be argued that it might be wise not to wear anything over your ears that could affect your ability to hear what's going on around you*.

However, that also includes a hat over the ears in cold weather.
It also implies that;
> if you are totally deaf you also shouldn't be riding, and
> if in a motor vehicle, you must not have the radio/CD player etc on,
> if in a motor vehicle you must not have the windows wound up.

* although exactly what you can do about it if you hear you are about to be run down from behind is a bit debatable.

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KirinChris replied to davebinks | 13 years ago
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davebinks wrote:

* although exactly what you can do about it if you hear you are about to be run down from behind is a bit debatable.

This is why I wear earphones in Abu Dhabi. Very little interaction with cars, hardly any lane changing or uncontrolled intersections.
Big wide roads and hard shoulders so I figure that's how I'd get collected and there's nothing I can do about a car coming from behind at 140km/h.

I wear small size ear buds that actually let in quite a lot of outside noise. It's probably equivalent to being in a car with windows up and radio at a moderate volume.

In the UK however I never wear them because of the constant need to be aware of where the next risk is coming from. Even riding in the lanes in Surrey and Kent there's always a white van behind the corner of the hedgerow that you'll hear before you see.

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sheridan | 13 years ago
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I often ride while listening to radio. I actually believe that this protects my hearing, as otherwise I'd be deafened by London traffic (I hasten to add I don't listen to the radio loudly). Let's face it, go into any bike shop (the motorised variety) and you'll find ear plugs to block out noise.

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G-bitch | 13 years ago
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I love these "stoopid 'merrcan" articles; reminds us that whilst we ain't Germany, France or Holland, it could be a lot worse....  3

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kitkat replied to G-bitch | 13 years ago
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G-bitch wrote:

I love these "stoopid 'merrcan" articles; reminds us that whilst we ain't Germany, France or Holland, it could be a lot worse....  3

Maybe this tells us that cycling is becoming more popular over the water as well thus coming to the attention of the 'law makers'

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bikeandy61 | 13 years ago
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I occasionally ride my road bike with one bud in my left ear (opposite side to traffic). I don't particularly think it's a great idea and as said do it only rarely, usually if I'm going for a solo ride. I believe that I use common sense in the matter and have the luck of having the freedom to do so.

But on the whole - is cycling wearing headphones any worse than driving a car with the audio system on? 1) You are inside a metal box which these days can be well insulated sound wise to minimise road/engine/environment noise. 2) You can then be listening to music VERY loudly (I live on a main road and my bed and living rooms are on the none road side of the house. Even so and it's hard to believe, but on occasion I can actually hear music from cars in the house). 3) A car will spend 50% or more of it's time travelling at speeds that most cyclists can only dream of achieving. But I don't suppose any of those points would be taken in to account.

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bazzargh | 13 years ago
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If this really is a danger, surely the relevant statistic is not the % of commuters who have an accident (even if we believe those figures) but the % of children in trailers & bikeseats who had an accident.

And then compare it to the number of accidents involving children crossing roads.

If you're going to propose banning something as a safety measure, surely you have to at least consider that the alternative you're offering may be just as dangerous?

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mrmo | 13 years ago
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30% of riders who ride to work have an accident, over what timescale and what sort of injury? how many drivers have an accident of some description, or is the point that a nice steel coffin means you don't injury yourself on the way to work, just later when you are rushed to A&E after a heart attack.

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Chutzpah | 13 years ago
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Wow, talk about tackling the effects and not the cause....

Child trailers and seats aren't inherently dangerous. So maybe finding out what causes accidents would be a good idea first?

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bassjunkieuk replied to Chutzpah | 13 years ago
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My thoughts exactly! Also why not just do a blanket ban on headphones? I mean after all using that flawed logic I could be run down whilst walking and listening to music so surely we should make that illegal as well?

Hopefully both these pathetic ideas will get shot down rather quickly...

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