I was behind a golf yesterday...

Not breaking any particular law as far as I'm aware, but may cause you issues if you had a crash whilst wearing them as presumably there would be an argument you weren't paying full attention.

Mind boggles though, seems quite common these days.
 
Why not?

With the sound insulation in modern cars once you've got the radio on as well you can hear practically nothing from outside anyway.
 
There's no way it isn't a distraction / more isolating from what's going on around you - especially at a reasonable volume.

See it now and then too, can't understand why anyone would do it

But then I can't understand why there was a Mazda 2 sitting at 55mph in the outside lane of an empty M8 as I breezed passed in the inside lane this afternoon either.
 
geez some people have far too much time on their hands.

Wait, I just asked a car related question in a car forum to further educate/enlighten myself about something I've not seen before. You come along, contribute nothing and make an ignorant comment. Sorry, who's got too much on their hands?
 
He was probably on the phone u can wear your headphones now can’t u and speak into the mic. Would you still be prosecuted for that the same as holding a mobile?
Or he was maybe just listening to music like the weirdo by me that listens to music through his headphones while driving :confused: music sounds so much better out of a car stereo than crappy Apple EarPods i don’t get his logic
 
I assume OP was in London so it's legal, stupid, but legal. However, over in France it's illegal to use earphones.

"The French ban is designed to prevent motorists becoming distracted from their environment due to the use of headphones or earphones. Ignoring this could result in an on-the-spot fine of €135 (around £113). This includes Bluetooth headsets, meaning all calls must be through a system with an external speaker and microphones."
- https://www.aph.com/community/holid...ntry-country-rules-heading-holiday-continent/


As for what the OP witnessed, I often see people with earphones in, I assume due to being used for calls but what I have seen more and more of is people wearing bulky over ear headphones. Even if those are for calls, they surely can't be all that good and must be distracting?
People on UK roads don't seem to really care about rules / laws anyway, I always see loads of people using their phones in various illegal ways not to mention people sitting the wrong lanes for miles on end as @rodenal mentioned too. Not like there are many police on the roads to stop them sadly, so increasing points/fines for those things doesn't make any difference.
 
But these were proper over the head full size headphones, not the normal in ear buds.
In that case he was probably just trying to look cool with his Beats headphones on while driving his German whip.
See people in the gym with them big stupid headphones on all the time carrying there phone about. They can never train properly it’s just to look cool and to let everyone know they spent £120 on headphones.
 
There's no way it isn't a distraction / more isolating from what's going on around you - especially at a reasonable volume.

See it now and then too, can't understand why anyone would do it

But then I can't understand why there was a Mazda 2 sitting at 55mph in the outside lane of an empty M8 as I breezed passed in the inside lane this afternoon either.

How is it different to very loud music though or a very well insulated car + music?

I can hardly hear anything with the radio on and windows up. I am way more aware of what is happening with the radio off. However, it seems I drive safe enough with the radio on.
 
I see it sometimes as well.

In a car you don't hear a lot outside anyway, but you might miss sirens or horns with earphones in/on.

I see a lot more cyclists doing it though, which is totally dumb. I've seen people cycling through town with no hands on the handle bars, phone in one hand, fag in the other and headphones on. Just needs a lorry or bus to swing out a bit wide and their dead.
 
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I'm surprised everyone seems so surprised tbh.

Not full headphones so much but I very often see people with (usually white Apple) earbuds in both ears.

I've never assumed it's for hands free telephony. I assume it's people who want to listen to streaming music services on their mobiles and either lack the connectivity to do so via their car's audio system or just prefer earbuds because their car's sound is crap.
 
How is it different to very loud music though or a very well insulated car + music?

I can hardly hear anything with the radio on and windows up. I am way more aware of what is happening with the radio off. However, it seems I drive safe enough with the radio on.

There is definitely a point there if people are driving around with the car radio up near enough full bung, but at a "normal" level there is a big difference between having fully enclosed headphones (or good inner ear earphones) on and listening to a sound source a few feet away in an otherwise well isolated environment.

The outside environment is much less obvious and it definitely has an effect on your level of balance/awareness to things happening around you too
 
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