Headphones block vital sounds in traffic!
We must keep our eyes and ears wide open to stay safe and healthy in traffic!
Road and Traffic Safety Consultant Özgür Şener, evaluating the risks faced when walking in traffic while listening to loud music with headphones, said, “We have two important organs that enable us to perceive dangers in traffic: our eyes and our ears. When we move in traffic listening to music with headphones in our ears, our ears will not hear the critical sounds we need to hear in traffic.” dedi.
Özgür Şener, warning that we must keep our eyes and ears wide open to stay safe and healthy in traffic, said, “Pedestrians, runners, cyclists, and motorcyclists in traffic should not listen to music with headphones. Perhaps a siren sound you might hear once in your life, the sound of a rapidly approaching vehicle, the warning sound of a vehicle backing up, or the sound of a vehicle veering off the road and coming towards you, could enable you to make a move that saves your life.” dedi.
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Occupational Health and Safety Department Lecturer, Road and Traffic Safety Consultant Özgür Şener, evaluated the risks faced when walking in traffic while listening to loud music with headphones.
'Loud music' in traffic becomes an enemy!
Özgür Şener stated that music, described as food for the soul, turns into an enemy when listened to loudly with headphones in traffic. “Individual music listening with headphones, which started years ago with 'Walkmans', has gained a completely different dimension with today's technology. New generation headphones have very high sound quality and also have isolation that prevents even loud external sounds from reaching the user. This is where music's hostility begins. We have two important organs that enable us to perceive dangers in traffic: our eyes and our ears. Thanks to our eyes, we can choose a safe path to walk, follow traffic lights, and observe vehicle movements. Thanks to our ears, we can hear horn sounds from vehicles in traffic, and siren sounds of vehicles moving for an emergency such as an ambulance, fire truck, or police. When we move in traffic listening to music with headphones in our ears, our ears will not hear the critical sounds we need to hear in traffic. Furthermore, since we will be engrossed in the emotion of the music we are listening to, our attention will not be on the dangers in traffic,' he said.
To stay safe and healthy in traffic…
Özgür Şener, explaining that out of 6,548 people who died in traffic accidents in 2023, 1,453 were pedestrians, and out of 350,855 injured people, 40,774 were also pedestrians, continued as follows:
“The traffic environment is a dangerous place where many vehicles and drivers move besides us. Unfortunately, we have an unsafe traffic environment where drivers run red lights, drive at high speeds even on side streets, drive over pedestrians instead of yielding to them, and a large number of drivers use mobile phones while driving. In such an environment, we must keep our eyes and ears wide open to stay safe and healthy. For this reason, pedestrians, runners, cyclists, and motorcyclists in traffic should not listen to music with headphones. Perhaps a siren sound you might hear once in your life, the sound of a rapidly approaching vehicle, the warning sound of a vehicle backing up, or the sound of a vehicle veering off the road and coming towards you, could enable you to make a move that saves your life.”
You should also not talk on the phone with headphones in both ears!
Özgür Şener continued his warnings, saying, “You can put on your headphones and enjoy music in places without vehicle traffic, such as parks, beaches, walking paths, and forest hiking trails. However, in places with vehicle traffic, you absolutely should not listen to music with headphones, and you should not talk on the phone with headphones in both ears.””
We cannot protect our children and youth from traffic accidents…
Özgür Şener, referring to the traffic accident statistics for 2023, concluded his words by saying, “When deaths and injuries in traffic accidents are examined by age groups, a very saddening and equally striking picture emerges. When deaths are examined by age groups, the 0-17 age group constituted 10.1% of total deaths, the 18-24 age group 13.6%, the 25-64 age group 56.3%, and the 65 and over age group 20.0%. When injuries are examined by age groups, the 0-17 age group constituted 17.8% of total injured, the 18-24 age group 21.5%, the 25-64 age group 53.9%, and the 65 and over age group 6.8%. We cannot protect our children and youth, whom we value and cherish, from traffic accidents. We are losing our youth, whom we raise with great difficulty, in traffic accidents. We must take measures today and immediately. We do not know whose door a traffic accident will knock on.”