Proposed Bill Would Ban Use of Two Earbuds While Running

One lawmaker wants to change the way thousands of people run. Not their style or pace but how many earbuds they use when listening to music. Whether to wear one earbud or two may sound like a trivial question, but State Senator Jimmy Jeffress says it could be a matter of life and death. He wants to make it a law for people to wear one earbud so they can hear if a car is coming.

For many, running is a sport where headphones rule.

Runner Kenny May said,  "To keep your mind off of actually running, easy distraction from running."

But now a lawmaker wants to make headphone rules.

State Senator Jeffress is proposing Senate Bill 80. If passed, it would be illegal to do what Denice Jones does almost every day, run alongside a street, highway or road with two earbuds in her ears.

Denice Jones said,  "There's enough rules you know, I think everyone has the right, if they want to have two in, they can have two in."

We saw people running with two earbuds or no earbuds.

Runner Rachel Versluis said "It's understandable, I like knowing what's going on especially when its dark and it's in the winter, it's hard to tell whats going on."

But none, with just one.

Little Rock Marathon coach Tom Singleton said, "The whole thing centers around the fact that it's dangerous."

Singleton says he's seen too many incidents where people almost ran into danger.

Singleton said, "She started to run out over Broadway, across Broadway and was literally about to run out in front of a bus. I was yelling at her,  'stop stop' and she couldn't hear me."

Singleton says runners compromise their situational awareness when they're listening to music, so he prefers people leave their earbuds at home. His suggestion is in line with national running organizations, like the Road Runners Club of America.

But, he says if people have to run to the rhythm,  he agrees with the one earbud rule, but says he's not sure it should be a law.

Singleton said, "If it saves someone's life, I wouldn't downplay that that's important, but the question is, is it the business of government to decide how you wear your hair or whether you wear earbuds or not, common sense should tell you."

Senator Jeffress' bill isn't just for runners, it would go for anyone biking, skating, walking or doing any sport parallel or adjacent to a street or highway. The bill does not list any fines or punishment associated with breaking the earphone rule.  Senator Jeffress said he just wants people to be aware.