Adventure Bike Rider Forum

Agree with Andy's post.
My other hobby is flying and I sometimes have music in my headphones, though it cuts automaticlly if there is an incoming radio transmission, but on the road, there are audio cues I need to pick up that music would mask.

I don't take passengers on my bike so can't comment on intercoms, but phone use is a big no no for me, I have the facility to feed this via bluetooth into my aircraft headset, but I would never set it up for this, neither would I have set up in my riding helmet a phone conversation is undeniably distracting.

I don't get this modern thing about being contactable and 'online' at any time

So is this law for real, or are we in the realm of breathalisers and hi-viz thongs?

A tad confusing , the only way to hear my sat-nav is through my headset ! I do find it is better for my partner to be able to talk to me through our intercom ( useally to tell me to slow down lol )

Rust wrote:Agree with Andy's post.
My other hobby is flying and I sometimes have music in my headphones, though it cuts automaticlly if there is an incoming radio transmission, but on the road, there are audio cues I need to pick up that music would mask.

I don't take passengers on my bike so can't comment on intercoms, but phone use is a big no no for me, I have the facility to feed this via bluetooth into my aircraft headset, but I would never set it up for this, neither would I have set up in my riding helmet a phone conversation is undeniably distracting.

I don't get this modern thing about being contactable and 'online' at any time

Ducati think the wealthy Multistrada customer base will want to be wired in to the grid all the time and have comfort in seeing an I-phone style dashboard :whistle: .

When I ride into London, it can take 90 minutes or longer each way if I'm in the mood for a decent route. I usually have the radio on (Scala Q3) and I can still hear more than any car driver with his windows up. also, when using the Scala unit for rider-rider intercom, it actually amplifies the sound of a distant fire engine.

Jon

Alan29 wrote:So is this law for real, or are we in the realm of breathalisers and hi-viz thongs?

The reason I posted this is because I understood it be law! I'm happy to be proved wrong.

vRSG60 wrote:

Alan29 wrote:So is this law for real, or are we in the realm of breathalisers and hi-viz thongs?

The reason I posted this is because I understood it be law! I'm happy to be proved wrong.

My post from the bottom of page one:

The General Driving Regulations states in Article 18:

“Driving using earphones or headphones connected to receiving devices or sound players is prohibited.” (The fine is 200 Euro and 3 points off of your licence).

Seems clear to me.

......... when you're stood on the side of the road speaking Franglaise to the boys in blue. Good luck!

To add a little clarity maybe

http://www.france24.com/en/20150127-fra ... nk-driving
"Headphones connected to mobile phones will no longer be legal for making calls while at the wheel, although wireless Bluetooth devices remain permitted."

So GPS directions and MP3s are OK, presumably.

So wireless bluetooth headphones........... :silly:

Gotta love the French.......

uturntony wrote:What difference talking to a passenger in a car sitting next to you (visual distraction too) and one sat on a bike behind you through an intercomm?

Listening to something through head/ear phones is very immediate and personal. Firstly it blocks out other sounds to a large extent so your attention is high, and secondly your ears are stimulated very effectively which makes decoding the signal in the brain more efficient (eg how good stereo is through a headset).

A passenger in the car with you is likely to respond to traffic conditions or road signals (ie stop talking if something happens) whereas a remote person will jabber on regardless consuming your attention. And by remote I include someone on another bike.

I fitted a Backchat Vixen once for a trip with my young daughter. She never shut up for the whole hour of the journey (actually 10 years later she still hasn't shut up) and I couldn't switch it off. I must have looked like Munch's "Scream" when I took my helmet off :woohoo:

No extraneous sounds for me thanks, just the (many) voices in my head :S

triumphexp wrote:A tad confusing , the only way to hear my sat-nav is through my headset ! I do find it is better for my partner to be able to talk to me through our intercom ( useally to tell me to slow down lol )

Surely it is safer to listen to satnav directions than to have to take one's eyes off the road to look at the map. I hope that good sense will dictate that this use continues to be allowed. (Although how one can prove that the headset is used only for listening to the satnav and not for listening to the radio etc. is beyond me.)