iPod Warning February 16, 2006
It’s official – the iPod is a killer device.
An Australian woman living in London was knocked from her bike and killed in a traffic accident, possibly because she was listening to her iPod and couldn’t hear the traffic noises around her.
Reports from Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers contain warnings from police about the use of ‘distracting devices’ in potentially dangerous situations that require your full attention.
I highly recommend the use of iPods while exercising as a source of entertainment and/or motivation, to make the activity less boring and to help you keep going. I stress, though, that you need to make sure their use is not distracting your attention and putting you in danger. It’s one thing to wear your iPod while walking in a park or riding an exercise bike at the gym, but it’s another thing entirely to be taking on city traffic while loud music drowns out what’s going on around you. So many of the safety cues we receive in those situations are auditory in nature, and you are literally risking your life if you choose to block them.
Most of what I listen to while walking or jogging is spoken word – podcasts, interviews and audio books. While music tends to completely drown out background noise, I find that spoken word audio allows much of the background noise to come through in the natural pauses between words and phrases. It just doesn’t ‘fill up your ears’ like most music does. Even so, I only listen to it when I’m exercising in a low-risk environment.
The bottom line is: Use your common sense, and be safe out there.
- Posted in : Safe Exercising, iPod
- Author : admin
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