Ear we go again

Dave gets a bit misty eyed as he learns of the perils of wearing headphones

Ah, the mid-80s. Such fond memories of bowling round the estates and thoroughfares of Dagenham with my hooky Volkswagen sign around my neck and Run-D.M.C. pumping out my ghetto blaster. Let me tell you - I cut quite a swathe, dear reader. The chicks went mental, believe.

As I got a little older and a little more considerate, I progressed to a Walkman. The same strut and the same banging choons, but a little less noise pollution. Mind you, my old Mum still told me that the damage I was doing to myself pumping monster riffs and block rockin' beats straight into my ear didn't bear thinking about.

I rolled my eyes at the time, but it turns out that she was right. A study published in the ever-riveting journal Injury Prevention has found that, between 2004 and 2011, the number of people killed or injured in the US each year because they had headphones on has leapt from 16 to 45. Young men are the most frequent victims, with the majority being hit by trains, having not heard the warnings issued moments before.

Crikey. The next time I go jogging, I think I'll be dusting off my boombox and my self-compiled Monster Mix Summer ‘88 tape.