Sir, – David Reddy (Letters, May 16th) exhorts cyclists and pedestrians to forego headphones when travelling as a matter of public safety. A quick search through the websites of the major car brands in Ireland suggest that we should be consulting automotive engineers. One company declares that it has mastered the "art of noise" as evidenced by its car cabins insulated from the noise of the outside world. Modern cars typically come fitted with stereo systems.
I presume the Road Safety Authority will be calling for regulation of these dangerous technologies? In the absence of such critical analysis, and knowing that road fatalities caused by cyclists and pedestrians are minimal, I might continue my lockdown lunchtime habit of cycling around the Phoenix Park listening to theology lectures on my earphones; an activity so patently harmless I never imagined it would have to be defended. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN HARGADEN,
Inchicore,
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Dublin 8.