There’s no doubt that London Mayor Boris Johnson has done some great things for cycling, particularly in London. The Boris bike has been a huge success, above Dan Lacey puts one through it’s paces.

This week though, after the unfortunate deaths of six cyclists on London roads, Boris came up with the idea to ban headphones! For all his positivity surrounding cycling, this seemed like a panic button moment (my opinion on it anyway!).

But we’re not hear to read about what I think,

BMXers are on the road as much as anyone, so we asked you guys, what you thought when Boris called for the headphone ban this week…

Jez Armstrong “I say do it, I’ve commuted into London by bike for years you can’t hear shit with headphones in, cars are different, I now drive a van in London so I know both ends of the scale.”

Jamie Donaldson “This sucks, music isnt the problem its down to people in cars and the cyclist to be aware of there surroundings, if you have your whits about you then you know exactly what you’re doing.”

Is it Hasta la vista, baby.. for the headphones?

Joe Puddle “Cycling on the road with headphones on is idiotic its that simple. You need to be able to see AND hear whats around you to be fully aware of what happening on the road. Its like saying I can use my phone and drive my car at the same time because I can still see, but we all know its not the case because your distracted by the phone call. The problem with banning this is its impossible to enforce unless you put police on every single junction in the country.”

 just being careful should be enough

Zach Murphy “Tbf. I wear them sometimes and it does distract you a bit from things. I ain’t stupid on a bike (even though I have no brakes). But I can see his point about it. But sometimes just being careful should be enough.”

Jamiee Webb “If cyclists used a bit of common sence and didnt just pull out of junctions without looking.. or jump red lights thinking the rules of the road dont apply to them because they’re not inside a motor veichle, and they actually used ther eyes seen as ther ears are pre occupied with noise, then no.. headphones while cycling wouldnt be an issue I’m not saying every cyclist does this, but at least 1 in 10 do and they usually have headphones in. I’m a cyclist myself, but I see it alot when out in the car, they just dont look half the time.”

How would Boris police this?

Leonie Macdonald “I don’t think it should be banned.. its impossible to police considering how tiny some earphones are…..
but it is common sense that if you are riding in traffic to be able to hear what is goin on around you… what is a little bit of natural noise and living compared to blasting them and being blasted by a car or lorry???”

you’re not cool when ya dead

Leslie Burns “That’s not the problem it’s the cyclist who jump red lights and yes I’m a cyclist I don’t jump them . You maybe a cool kid on a fixie but you’re not cool when ya dead.”

TOPcycle “It was a good sound bite for London drivers and potential VOTERS!!!”

The debate continues on our Facebook page, set the world to rights here…