MPs seek headphone ban for scooter riders following series of fatal accidents
- MPs are in search of to ban headphones for these utilizing electrical scooters
- There has been a surge in accidents involving headphones and scooters
- Despite headphone customers being unable to listen to different automobiles correctly, the harmful apply will not be towards the legislation
Cyclists and e-scooter riders needs to be banned from carrying headphones after a series of fatal accidents, say campaigners and MPs.
Despite headphone customers being unable to listen to different automobiles correctly, the harmful apply will not be towards the legislation.
Labour MP Barry Sheerman, chairman of the parliamentary advisory council for street security, mentioned: ‘I believe urgent action has to be taken. Scooter users and cyclists are increasingly becoming victims of fatal and near-fatal accidents.’
The calls for a UK ban come after a series of deaths attributable to riders carrying headphones
France and Spain outlawed the carrying of headphones whereas biking a few years in the past, whereas Portugal and Italy enable one ear solely. In the US, guidelines differ from state to state.
The calls for a UK ban come after a series of deaths attributable to riders carrying headphones, together with Peter McCombie, 72, who died of head accidents after being hit by bike owner Ermir Loka, who was listening to music.
Loka, 23, was captured on CCTV working a pink mild and ploughing into Mr McCombie earlier than fleeing the scene. He was discovered not responsible of manslaughter however jailed for two years for inflicting bodily hurt by ‘wanton or furious driving’.
Last June, 19-year-old e-scooter rider George McGowan was killed after he was hit by a automotive whereas listening to music on his headphones. Neil Greig, coverage and analysis director on the street security charity IAM RoadSmart, mentioned: ‘Being plugged in to headphones is the ultimate distraction, as it completely shuts you off to your surroundings, creating a potential road safety risk to yourself, pedestrians and other road users.’
He described adjustments to the Highway Code earlier this yr as a ‘missed opportunity’ to deal with the difficulty, including: ‘We would be keen to see at least, as a minimum, a major education campaign, and if that didn’t work we’d be supportive of a ban.’
In 2013, Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, mentioned: ‘It makes me absolutely terrified to see them [cyclists] bowling along, unable to hear the traffic.’
Sarah Leadbetter, of the National Federation of the Blind, mentioned a ban would ‘not only make life safer for the visually impaired but also for many other vulnerable pedestrians and the riders themselves’.
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