Comment The importance of sound... (Score 1) 620
I have read a few comments here that downplay the importance of our perception of sound when realising danger. The ear plays a massive role in our perception of our environment from the location of objects through binaural location. The location of a sound source via the difference in the frequency spectrum in the left and right ear as well as the acceleration of a sound source through the Doppler Effect.
I welcome this legislation in many ways as it can help influence a pedestrians decision making whether they are wearing headphones or not (the discussion of the effect of in ear headphones is something the medical world should take up with the audio industry. In ear headphones have developed a situation where my generation and my childrens generation will be deaf before our grand parents, sad times but sadly no one gives shit. Yet.)
Lets not forget that an in ear headphone has very little external sound dampening and that road noise is often around 70-85dB. Louder than most people can reasonably cope with in, in ear headphones.
My only real worry with this is that traffic police are still exposed to consistent dB levels for the sake of pedestrian safety and i think that is something that needs to be considered.
Lets not forget that you have some very accomplished acousticians informing this proposal and they certainly know what is safe. New technology is one thing but I get the impression that slashdot doesn't really care what affect this technology can have.