Can you wear ear-bud headphones to make phone calls while driving in Australia?

While most modern cars have Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay or Android Auto connectivity, some drivers prefer to use earbud headphones to take or make calls. It is legal?

It is not illegal to use ear-bud headphones – wired or wireless – to take or make a call while driving, as long as you don’t handle the phone, and you’re not distracted by the devices.

However, police could still issue drivers a ticket – with fines typically ranging from $400 to $600 – if the use of ear-bud headphones is deemed to have impaired your driving.

Although Drive covered this subject earlier this year, the question came up again this week during one of our regular radio segments, with many motorists still confused about the legality of using ear-bud headphones while driving in Australia.

Road safety experts and police strongly advise against using ear-bud headphones – or over-ear headphones – to listen to music because the driver may not hear emergency vehicle sirens, or the sound of horn warnings from other motorists.

However, some drivers still prefer to use ear-bud headphones to take or make calls because they can hear the person on the other end of the line more clearly – and the driver doesn’t need to yell over the roar of the road noise, especially at freeway speeds.

Indeed, the use of ear-bud headphones for phone calls means, in most cases, drivers can concentrate better on traffic conditions because they are not straining to hear – or speak to – the other person on the line.

“There is no specific offence for using ear-bud headphones for phone calls, in fact that is what drivers originally used before Bluetooth and Apple CarPlay were introduced,” a senior NSW Police highway patrol officer told Drive.

“However, if police can see a driver has not noticed or given way to an ambulance, fire truck or other emergency vehicles approaching with their lights and sirens activated, and police have reason to believe that person’s driving or awareness of other traffic has been impaired by the headphones, then that driver could be issued a ticket for not paying due care and attention, or negligent driving.”

For a recap on the penalties for distracted driving in each state and territory in Australia, click here.

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