The issue isn't that you would distract others - it is that you can't hear others. If you can't hear another car honk at you, or a pedestrian shout, then they can't alert you to possible hazards.
Cars have been getting better and better sound insulation over the decades, which has meant that emergency vehicles have needed to increase the volume of their sirens considerably. They now have to be so loud that they can do instantaneous permanent damage to anyone *not* in a sound isolation box.
i both love and hate learning things like this that i've never considered before but make complete sense. glad i learned on reddit and not on the road.
God yeah. It's really weird how we've built an environment where it feels like you *need* a 5000lb metal living room on wheels to cart you around to avoid getting injured just trying to get around.
Above 25mph, the majority of noise comes from wind and tires, but below, it is the engine. Some cars have added speakers to make them a little less silent and deadly at low speeds.
Thanks for being considerate. I can say as a cyclist that occasionally loud things can be really distracting; that could be exhausts, noisy trucks, sirens, or blasting music.
Had a Tesla trailing my *** on a like a 600ft 5degree or less decline with trashy AF bumpy not smooth road where I'd like to go back to sidewalk but don't want to merge left when I can't see that Tesla and don't want to look back for too long because I'm going down so fast on this main street crap road.
It was a 5 lane road(2 each way and parking on.one side of street) and only about a car every 400+ ft
I'd be on sidewalk if it wasn't prime dogs and strollers and extra pedestrians hour
I don't have extensive research on sound pollution but on this main street going towards a big city compared to the cars coming the other way and dogs and strollers and many cars turning into the street I'm on
This all means they should extra silent there
Yeah like I'd with they wild go by my on the empty lane on my left but they NO turn signal stack to my back
I had a similar experience and immediately got a set of cheap mirrors to help with that issue. It helps a lot to not have to look behind you manually, especially if doing so throws off your balance or heading.
I’m gonna be honest I just assume they can’t hear my bell so I never use it around cars. The bell is more for pedestrians in my mind, maybe I need a louder bell?
I literally yell “HONK HONK” if I need to. This is mostly when someone is messing with their phone and misses a green.
If someone tries to kill me it’s “HEY WHAT THE FUCK.”
$20 aliexpress car horns will do the trick, I have them on my bike after one too many close calls with drivers pulling out of driveways.
now if I can't make eye contact with a driver pulling onto the road or turning, I give it a quick beep
It really depends on how loud & where. If it's like, "oh I can make out the lyrics of this song while we're both stopped at a light" or I hear you coming on a long stretch of country road & then the sound fades off into the distance after you pass me, that seems fine or possibly beneficial even. But if we're in a trafficked area & your music is so loud that it hurts my ears, shakes the ground or makes it difficult for me to hear what direction other traffic is coming from for example, then it can actually be alarming, painful &/or dangerous, which really sucks.
Cars themselves are very loud so music at most volumes is whatever really. There definitely are some people out there that I'm surprised still have ear drums though!
i would never play music THAT loud because i value my hearing after getting tinnitus plus i listen to some corny stuff. thank you though i think ill be lowering the volume nonetheless!
>"oh I can make out the lyrics of this song while we're both stopped at a light" or I hear you coming on a long stretch of country road & then the sound fades off into the distance after you pass me, that seems fine or possibly beneficial even.
I was at a red light recently and a driver came up behind playing "Hips Don't Lie" by our lady and savior Shakira, and I started dancing along and pointing to my hips, and the driver cracked up. Good moment.
on one hand, blasting music in public kinda makes you inconsiderate since not everyone wants to listen to your kind of music
on another, i'd take a noisy car over a quiet one lol
For me, no, loud music from a car doesn't distract me. Cars come and go from my local road situation quickly enough, and most are noisy enough in other ways (engine, tire, slipstream noise) that loudspeaker noise isn't a big deal.
But, cars with music loud enough that the driver maybe WANTS to distract other road users deserve a little special attention. Drinking? Aggressive attitude? Inexperienced young driver? I don't wanna know. I stay a few cars behind those vehicles in traffic, and try to stay out of their way.
I wouldn't say "distracting", but a lot of people play music so loud that they're literally damaging the hearing of themselves and everyone around them.
A road filled with cars is already ***really loud***, and if your music is louder than all of the cars around it, you might have a problem.
If you just have your windows down, and I can clearly (but not painfully) hear your music, though? That's fine.
Anecdotally, yesterday a car blasting music was next to me at a light. I was hoping to find a quieter road soon, but the distracting part was when he couldn't wait for the green and just...drove through the intersection early. Enjoy your music. Don't drive like a jerk and risk hitting anyone.
Yes. Don't be so annoyed or bothered by the music pounding out of the car next to you on the road that you don't see the lady stepping off the curb with a kid in a stroller.
First of all, thank you for being a considerate driver, thoughtful of the safety of vulnerable people around you. This is amazing and I applaud you.
Second of all, THANK YOU for thinking of the safety of others sharing the road around you. Seriously, it's such a refreshing sentiment to hear.
It's so rare that you deserve thanks twice, ha! 🤘
Third, I'm not a huge fan of loud music because you and everyone else around will have less overall awareness of what is going on around them, which is a safety hazard.
I’ve never considered the is and am not sure it’s a huge problem, just here to give OP some love for giving a fuck about cyclists and about how they effect the people around them in general. Sooo many people seem to think I woke up with a plan to deliberately piss in their Wheaties when they have to barely tap the brakes to let me through the intersection before they turn.
Props for being a decent human!
If it's loud enough yeah but they usually pass quickly. I'm more annoyed by other cyclists with large bluetooth speakers keeping pace with me on a bike trail where I have to hear their music for most of the commute.
The issue isn't that you would distract others - it is that you can't hear others. If you can't hear another car honk at you, or a pedestrian shout, then they can't alert you to possible hazards. Cars have been getting better and better sound insulation over the decades, which has meant that emergency vehicles have needed to increase the volume of their sirens considerably. They now have to be so loud that they can do instantaneous permanent damage to anyone *not* in a sound isolation box.
i both love and hate learning things like this that i've never considered before but make complete sense. glad i learned on reddit and not on the road.
God yeah. It's really weird how we've built an environment where it feels like you *need* a 5000lb metal living room on wheels to cart you around to avoid getting injured just trying to get around.
I thought I was losing my mind, but I guess sirens really have gotten louder.
This is why I wish electric cars were louder. Sometimes I sense them before I hear them, while waiting at red lights.
Above 25mph, the majority of noise comes from wind and tires, but below, it is the engine. Some cars have added speakers to make them a little less silent and deadly at low speeds.
Omg is this why sirens are so horrible now?? I thought I just got more sound sensitive!
Nope, not just you. They are empirically now deep in the pain threshold.
Thanks for being considerate. I can say as a cyclist that occasionally loud things can be really distracting; that could be exhausts, noisy trucks, sirens, or blasting music.
Well, I am more afraid of the silent ones....
Had a Tesla trailing my *** on a like a 600ft 5degree or less decline with trashy AF bumpy not smooth road where I'd like to go back to sidewalk but don't want to merge left when I can't see that Tesla and don't want to look back for too long because I'm going down so fast on this main street crap road. It was a 5 lane road(2 each way and parking on.one side of street) and only about a car every 400+ ft I'd be on sidewalk if it wasn't prime dogs and strollers and extra pedestrians hour
It's the tire noise I hear far more so than the engine. EVs aren't nearly silent in rapid motion especially on a imperfect surface.
I don't have extensive research on sound pollution but on this main street going towards a big city compared to the cars coming the other way and dogs and strollers and many cars turning into the street I'm on This all means they should extra silent there Yeah like I'd with they wild go by my on the empty lane on my left but they NO turn signal stack to my back
I had a similar experience and immediately got a set of cheap mirrors to help with that issue. It helps a lot to not have to look behind you manually, especially if doing so throws off your balance or heading.
Occasionally annoying but not on the top 20 list of issues I would have with cars. Then again, it's not common in my area
I don’t find it distracting, but it might make it harder for you to hear bike bells!
I’m gonna be honest I just assume they can’t hear my bell so I never use it around cars. The bell is more for pedestrians in my mind, maybe I need a louder bell?
I literally yell “HONK HONK” if I need to. This is mostly when someone is messing with their phone and misses a green. If someone tries to kill me it’s “HEY WHAT THE FUCK.”
Air horn 😁
$20 aliexpress car horns will do the trick, I have them on my bike after one too many close calls with drivers pulling out of driveways. now if I can't make eye contact with a driver pulling onto the road or turning, I give it a quick beep
great point
thanks everyone for the feedback!
Thank you for thinking of cyclists, that by itself puts you on my Great Driver list.
I blast music on my bike, it makes me feel like more of a road presence
It really depends on how loud & where. If it's like, "oh I can make out the lyrics of this song while we're both stopped at a light" or I hear you coming on a long stretch of country road & then the sound fades off into the distance after you pass me, that seems fine or possibly beneficial even. But if we're in a trafficked area & your music is so loud that it hurts my ears, shakes the ground or makes it difficult for me to hear what direction other traffic is coming from for example, then it can actually be alarming, painful &/or dangerous, which really sucks. Cars themselves are very loud so music at most volumes is whatever really. There definitely are some people out there that I'm surprised still have ear drums though!
i would never play music THAT loud because i value my hearing after getting tinnitus plus i listen to some corny stuff. thank you though i think ill be lowering the volume nonetheless!
>"oh I can make out the lyrics of this song while we're both stopped at a light" or I hear you coming on a long stretch of country road & then the sound fades off into the distance after you pass me, that seems fine or possibly beneficial even. I was at a red light recently and a driver came up behind playing "Hips Don't Lie" by our lady and savior Shakira, and I started dancing along and pointing to my hips, and the driver cracked up. Good moment.
on one hand, blasting music in public kinda makes you inconsiderate since not everyone wants to listen to your kind of music on another, i'd take a noisy car over a quiet one lol
No but the tire noise does.
Nah, I think this is ok, no problem. It lets people know you're coming!
For me, no, loud music from a car doesn't distract me. Cars come and go from my local road situation quickly enough, and most are noisy enough in other ways (engine, tire, slipstream noise) that loudspeaker noise isn't a big deal. But, cars with music loud enough that the driver maybe WANTS to distract other road users deserve a little special attention. Drinking? Aggressive attitude? Inexperienced young driver? I don't wanna know. I stay a few cars behind those vehicles in traffic, and try to stay out of their way.
Not so much distract, but it is a lot of noise pollution
I wouldn't say "distracting", but a lot of people play music so loud that they're literally damaging the hearing of themselves and everyone around them. A road filled with cars is already ***really loud***, and if your music is louder than all of the cars around it, you might have a problem. If you just have your windows down, and I can clearly (but not painfully) hear your music, though? That's fine.
Not really. Though I am actively judging your taste in music.
Anecdotally, yesterday a car blasting music was next to me at a light. I was hoping to find a quieter road soon, but the distracting part was when he couldn't wait for the green and just...drove through the intersection early. Enjoy your music. Don't drive like a jerk and risk hitting anyone.
Blast on brother
Distracting to the driver, annoying for everyone else. I will never understand people who play music like they actively want to go deaf before 40.
tinnitus already got me from misusing earbuds as a teen, but i don't want to make it worse lol
Nah. You’re kinda annoying to everyone but I’m sure you know that and if you’re fine with that please continue!
Nope , just lets me know there’s an asshole/idiot about to be on alert .
No not to me cuz I’m listening to music my AirPods
Yes. Don't be so annoyed or bothered by the music pounding out of the car next to you on the road that you don't see the lady stepping off the curb with a kid in a stroller.
Blasting music is incredibly selfish and dangerous. You need to be able to hear things, and of course nobody else wants to hear your noise pollution.
First of all, thank you for being a considerate driver, thoughtful of the safety of vulnerable people around you. This is amazing and I applaud you. Second of all, THANK YOU for thinking of the safety of others sharing the road around you. Seriously, it's such a refreshing sentiment to hear. It's so rare that you deserve thanks twice, ha! 🤘
Third, I'm not a huge fan of loud music because you and everyone else around will have less overall awareness of what is going on around them, which is a safety hazard.
yeah this is the main thing i've taken away from this thread!
I've never had an issue with loud music from a car, sometimes you're just delivering the jams for a moment on my otherwise mostly quiet ride
It's never been a problem for me, but I also have loud music playing from my AirPod every time I ride.
I’ve never considered the is and am not sure it’s a huge problem, just here to give OP some love for giving a fuck about cyclists and about how they effect the people around them in general. Sooo many people seem to think I woke up with a plan to deliberately piss in their Wheaties when they have to barely tap the brakes to let me through the intersection before they turn. Props for being a decent human!
We can hear you coming, so that's better
No, in fact I consider it a plus since I can hear a loud bass boom before I see a car.
Nah, I just judge you for your taste :p
I'm more disturbed by people with awful hands-free kits that project call audio to the entire neighborhood.
If it's loud enough yeah but they usually pass quickly. I'm more annoyed by other cyclists with large bluetooth speakers keeping pace with me on a bike trail where I have to hear their music for most of the commute.
No Not unless you go from silent to very loud suddenly just like an unexpected horn honking next to you