Thinking About … iPod Laws

Al McCausland

It is ridiculous that they want to stop you from wearing headphones while running. Wearing them while riding a bike on the street, I understand. That’s just plain stupid. But while running? There more people killed crossing streets, by trains, and by planes who aren’t wearing headphones than by people exercising with headphones on. Just play your music at a level that you can hear the music over the traffic noise but not the horns. And, so that you can hear someone in distress, something that I have been fortunate not to have encountered in all the years I’ve been running and riding my bike.

Stan

Government needs to butt out. Soon, you will have to get on a scale and show your proof of BMI card before you can eat at your local restaurant. We need less government, not more.

roxy

No, total bullshit. Drivers in their stupid cars are the ones with their heads up their ass. They need to share the road with cyclists, runners and walkers. Pedestrians have the right of way! I can’t wait until we run out of oil completely and everyone has to get off their fat ass and walk.

Old Guy

Jesus don’t we have bigger problems. Now we have earbud iPod Nazis.

Anonymous

Sadly, some people do need to be protected from their own stupidity… but why is that the Governments responsibility? If they feel fit to remove themselves from the gene pool, so be it. How loud are these people listening to tunes anyway? In my car, I often have the radio on… but I can still hear horns and sirens and the crap being blasted from the overly loud system three cars over.nnI just hope that these “iPod” zombies learn how to use their peripherial vision and practice some situational awareness, since many users are on the path to permanent hearing loss. (Can you imagine, 20 years from now, how many D-bags are going to try to sue Apple for their hearing losses?)

Silas1898

State Senator Kruger Wins!!!!nnThis year’s award for stupidest politician alive!!

Trunks_cscs

If the law passes, which it doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of doing, people that run with portable music players of any type are screwed unless some company out there invents mini Bluetooth speakers that’ll crank out the tunes. A Bluetooth transmitter can be plugged into the headphone jack to transmit the signal to the speakers mounted in a headband so instead of obstructing the runner’s hearing, it’ll just alloy the hell out of everybody else.

Ecomamacita

This is a joke…but a joke that is part of a long line of freedoms being taken away from our supposed democratic American society. I can attest to the traffic problems being a runner and “iPod zombie,” but the problem is usually more on the driver end than pedestrian. People are in such a rush these days that they are either flying through a pedestrian zone, or stopping halfway in the sidewalk. The sidewalk signs are a joke to most drivers out here, even though we live downtown (for the pedestrian convenience?!). nnAll I know is that its damn hard to motivate oneself to run miles, and eat super healthy. But thanks to this upcoming bill, and the Food Modernization Act of 2009 (passed during lame duck congress)…becoming a couch potato hooked on the governments “scripps” will have never been easier!

Afeaton

whose idea was it to have the 160 lb pedestrian traveling about 5 MPH get the right of way over the 2 ton automobiles traveling at least 35 MPH (in most residential areas). Just because there’s some painted lines on the road doesn’t mean the cars will magically stop because you want to cross the street and don’t feel like being aware of your surroundings. Bottom line, there’s idiots everyone and sometimes they’re driving and sometimes they’re walking/running, but if you actually obey all the posted signs (aka the laws already in place) you’ll survive to bitch about it on sites like this.

Brent212

Thank god the government is there to protect me from myself. I can’t wait for the “brush and floss twice a day” law. Freedom rocks!

piffle

I believe that ipod users taking themselves out is a good way to thin the herd for the smarter people. We surely don’t want them to breed and bring more stupidity to the planet.

Ecomamacita

Wow piffle – so insightful! Doesn’t exercise actually help increase intelligence?

crazy

Well unfortunately we seem to need laws like this to save dumbfucks from themselves. nThis is how we got the laws restricting talking or texting on cellphones.nI passed a car on my way to work one day, the guy had a big gulp in one hand, cellphone in the other steering with his knee.nNow put someone like that near a intersection with a ipod zombie crossing and someone will be wearing a toetag.nnPeople need to get over themselves, drivers and joggers. nThere are other people on the streets besides you. nPAY ATTENTION! nMaybe you have a death wish but the guy training for next months 10k or who just dropped his kids at school might just have plans for his future.nBe ALERT-we needs more LERTS.

Luxory

I work at a restaurant and a lot of people come in and complain that they hurt themselves because they ran into our building while they were walking and on their phone!nThe law would help protect businesses from dumbclucks that don’t pay attention then try to sue. I know it sucks and it’s a “nanny state” thing but unfortunately we live in a sue-happy society and have to protect the people they’d sue even if though it was the pedestrian’s fault.

jeff

just turn your shit down a notch or two below bleeding ear damage and you should be cool…unless your already deaf. I run, ride and drive to music and ain’t had an incident yet. It’s too bad we give the opportunistic, authoritarian politicians reason to bark and whine.

Bstout85

Hello 1984! George Orwell is spinning in his grave, even as we speak. This retarded, yes, retarded administration has already imposed enough tarrifs, taxes, levvies, and penalties on its “constituants”, Do we really need a government takedown of iPod users? For God’s sake, we have “food police” thanks to out absolutely retarded First Lady, we have Cap and Trade-like legislation to make paupers out of every corporation in America, we have an absolutely frivolous, and border line criminal new health care reform package that dictates what doctors we can see, when, where, and for how much. We also have to follow even stricter health “safety guidelines” in order to be eligible for the “free healthcare”. We have a commitee meeting in Mexico every few months whose sole purpose it to fabricate the evidence of Global Warming or, “Climate Change” thanks to the effing rediculous ALGORE, so that this Big Brother style gov’t can dictate to us everything we do in every aspect of our lives. Do we need iPod police? Hell NO!

Thunderbasshell

Why is this a new thing?????? A portable music player with headphones has been around since the early 80′s……. It’s called a walkman! Everyone had one of those as well. Just goes to show that governments are quick to act as always…………. What about reading the paper while walking down the street. What about tourists looking up at all the wonderful sights of a new city??? are we going to make those things illegal as well? nnSounds like revenue raising to me……..

MichaelArchAngel

Anything to get people to be present would be helpful.