With the news of a fatal Amtrak/jogger incident in British Columbia, Canada, http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Woman+killed+when+jogged+front+Amtrak+train+White+Rock/8661245/story.html
And similar accidents:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3018516/posts
There is evidence such accidents are increasing:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/16/news/la-heb-headphones-accident-pedestrian-20120116
Please consider the general issue of who is at fault when freakish accidents like these happens. Heads up, I am generally very favourable to what critics derrogate as the nanny state. Reality is:
- of younger people, people under 45, 98% wear earbuds, including some who can afford it, with noise cancelling technology, when they jog or run
- Apple and other device and earphone companies are totally aware of the risks and make billions of dollars on Ipods, IPhones and similar devices, earbuds, and noise-cancelling earphones.
- there are solutions and people making money marketing affordable solutions e.g. http://www.safesoundsports.com/product.html but 98% of young joggers do not use safe solutions.
I blame the device and earbud/headset tech companies 75%. The proof is the lengthy warnings they enclose with their products. The main impact of these warnings is cover their asses in case of a lawsuit. They need to add a technological solution to ALL such device/earbud/headset combinations, idiot proof, if you will, such as noise ENHANCING technology, which recognize a train whistle, bus or truck horn, siren, other warning sound or yell, any loud noise that is not just general background and stop the music so the wearer can at least hear the train, truck, yells etc.
Of course we are all ALSO responsible for ourselves. After initial attempts listening to music while I run, I gave up on it. Generationally, I am not an exercise multi-tasker, and also I am lucky enough to have moved to a place where my run is Vancouver's legendary seawall and Stanley park. I do not feel the need of anything to block out the cries of ravens and seagulls and the lap of waves on the beaches. But even a few months ago, when I lived in a trafficky neighbourhood in Phoenix, Arizona, I just did not listen to music. I had enough close encounters with traffic without adding to the probability. But I do not understand how the need for personal responsibility eliminates the need for overall social or corporate responsibility. You need both.
