# Driving with headphones for noise reduction only - Legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523 "2004-05-04T20:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523/1 "2004-05-04T20:55:40Z")
Is it legal to drive with heaphones if you are not using them for music but only to reduce road and engine noise? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523/2 "2004-05-04T21:15:41Z")
Why should it make a difference why the headphones are being worn? ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523/3 "2004-05-04T21:23:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Why should it make a difference why the headphones are being worn? Sorry, I was not clear. I should have said I meant wearing noise-canceling headphones which will allow a person to hear sirens and horns better as oppsoed to listening to music which can be quite distracting. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523/4 "2004-05-04T21:48:25Z")
Erm…maybe I’m missing something, but…wouldn’t “noise canceling” headphones be **canceling** the noise that came from sirens and horns? Anyway, FWIW, they’re quite definitely illegal in Massachusetts and California and Kentucky and the U.S. Navy. Where you from? [http://www.state.ma.us/msp/faqs.htm#phones](http://www.state.ma.us/msp/faqs.htm#phones) > [@](#): > > Are headphones legal to wear while driving? > No. They are illegal in Massachusetts. Mgl chapter 90 section 13 - impeded operation - $25 fine. [http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast\_facts/ffdl28.htm](http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffdl28.htm) > [@](#): > > wearing headphones or earplugs (illegal in California and most states), [http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/orm/generalorm/pod/traffic.htm](http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/orm/generalorm/pod/traffic.htm) > [@](#): > > POD Note #7: Do not wear portable headphones, earphones or other listening devices while operating a motor vehicle, walking, jogging, bicycling, or skating on roads and streets aboard naval installations is not only very hazardous but it is also failure to obey a general regulation, and punishable under the UCMJ. [http://www.kytc.state.ky.us/drlic/parent\_teen\_driving\_4.htm](http://www.kytc.state.ky.us/drlic/parent_teen_driving_4.htm) > [@](#): > > Therefore, wearing headphones and earphones while driving is prohibited by law in Kentucky, with certain specified exceptions relative to work safety, hearing protection and hearing impairments. I doubt whether “hearing protection” means protecting you from having to hear sirens and horns. It doesn’t look like overall they’re inclined to quibble about why you’re wearing them. ---
**Author:** ![MercyStreet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@MercyStreet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MercyStreet)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523/5 "2004-05-04T21:51:44Z")
I wear earplugs when I’m driving on interstates with the windows down. I can hear all things better – including the radio and whoever is sitting in the passenger seat – because all the wind noise is filtered out. Weird but true. ---
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523/6 "2004-05-04T21:52:42Z")
Another vote for “Won’t they cancel out the sirens and horns?” Or at a minimum, won’t they delay the point at which you actually hear the siren/horn? This point being when the siren becomes so loud that the headphones cannot compensate for it, and it bleeds into your ears…as the ambulance passes you by. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523/7 "2004-05-04T21:55:55Z")
As has been pointed out, it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The problem really is the cop won’t care what kind of headphones you are wearing. Headphones are headphones to him/her. Sounds like the earplugs may be a better route to take as they are difficult to see as you whizz by a cop. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523/8 "2004-05-04T22:14:23Z")
> [@pilot141](#): > > Another vote for “Won’t they cancel out the sirens and horns?” I don’t think they are designed to cancel out horns and sirens. When I tried my friends in his car (he doesn’t wear them while driving) the sounds that were reduced were the engine, wind, and road noise. I could still clearly hear the radio and my friend’s voice. In fact, I could hear the radio and his voice better. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-with-headphones-for-noise-reduction-only-legal/243523/9 "2004-05-04T22:43:22Z")
No they will not get rid of sirens or other transient, frequency shifting sounds. Noise cancellation headphones are designed to eliminate “ambient” noise, constant background sounds. If works very well for the drone of jet engines and the steady hiss of air flow, which is why they’re so popular on airliners. It does very little to reducesounds that by their nature stand out from the background. There may be some exceptions to this – for instance most tornado sirens I’ve heard are a very loud steady pitch, which the headphones should knock down pretty well. But ambulance and police sirens warble and wail. Noise cancelling headphones would make very little impact. Kel Varnsen - Latex Division – I’m afraid the laws haven’t caught up with your ideas yet. I’ll suggest one thing – you may be able to talk your way out of a ticket if there is nothing in the car into which you can plug the headphones, and hopefully the headphones don’t have a little radio built in that you can’t get rid of. You would be able to demonstrate to the cop that you couln’t possibly have been listening to music. You could even offer the cop a demo, if you’re willing to have cop head cooties on your earpads. But IANA cop, and there are no guarantees.