Wearing headphones while driving is illegal in most places, as it should be. I personally think people biking while wearing headphones are unwise but at least they’re unlikely to hurt someone else while doing it.
I think the point is that you can buy a road legal vehicle where the driver is entirely encased in glass/steal with anywhere from 5-30 powered speakers to use at any volume they want but we still end up having these "people existing outside with headphones is bad because every piece of the earth has been handed to cars" arguments.
In most US states there are no restrictions to driving with headphones on. By my quick count only six states ban it, and a handful more say you have to have one ear uncovered.
Sadly it is in France, although not because driving while not being able to hear is bad (otherwise car radios would be banned), but because they wanted to ban it for cyclists and motorbikes.
> And deaf people shouldn't be allowed to do either?
That's a poor comparison, for a few reasons.
1. Headphones can prevent you from responding to outside sounds in at least two ways: (1) the sound from the headphones might mask the outside sound so it is not audible to you, and (2) you might be distracted enough by the sound from the headphones that even if the outside sound is audible through the headphones you fail to notice it. Also that distraction can also take your attention away from other important things needed for safe driving.
Deafness only prevents you from responding to outside sounds by making it so you don't hear them. It does not add distractions on top of that.
2. Deafness is a disability. We often relax rules for people with disabilities to help them have a more ordinary life.
In the US less than 2 percent of the population is deaf. Letting that small number of people drive despite not being able to hear provides them with great benefit. It probably does slightly increase the overall accident rate but with it only being 2 percent or less of drivers the effect is limited.
People with headphones appears to be way higher than 2 percent. They will have a much bigger impact the 2 percent who are deaf.
3. Deaf people have likely been deaf for most or all of their lives. I'd expect they have learned to compensate by paying more attention visually to their surroundings. When they learned to drive they were likely taught the importance of such compensation and have been practicing and perfecting it ever since.
Headphones are temporary. Very few people wearing headphones while driving are going to have the compensation skills that deaf people have for dealing with not hearing outside sounds.
> 1. Headphones can prevent you from responding to outside sounds in at least two ways: (1) the sound from the headphones might mask the outside sound so it is not audible to you, and (2) you might be distracted enough by the sound from the headphones that even if the outside sound is audible through the headphones you fail to notice it. Also that distraction can also take your attention away from other important things needed for safe driving.
Cars have come with radios for nearly a century, tape players for 50+ years, and many drivers play their music so loud you can hear it even when sitting in another car
Clearly depriving or overloading auditory input is not deemed to be a risk
