Headphone News

We came across a story this morning from Canada that seems to indicate a disconcerting trend. Apparently a youth was walking to his mail box with his headphones on when a helicopter crashed into him. This death is being used to spur on conversations about safe headphone usage.

Now, we agree that limiting your ability to hear isn't the best idea. It's also a bad idea when you need to listen to important instructions, such as during a race. It's an especially bad idea to in situations where you need to be mindful of loud incoming dangers, such as around trains, automobiles, or other things that move very, very quickly. That being said, we're pretty sure people have been being careless, or involved in accidents for a bit longer than the iPod craze.

Further, how is this particular tragedy being toted as the reason headphone safety needs to be enforced? As far as we understand, the person involved just stepped out to get his mail when he had the misfortune of winning the worst possible lottery. We don't think it's grounds for launching a campaign to limit the use of headphones. If someone was reading, and therefore unable to see a rabid grizzly bear sneaking up behind them, would we consider banning books?

Regardless of our views on the matter, it certainly seems as though headphone hysteria seems to be gaining ground, at least in terms of media buzz-worthiness. Something tells us this won't be the last time we get to use our 'Headphones Attack!!' graphic.