[dimva]

No, you won't be blocking the noise of an ambulance with noise-canceling headphones, that's not how noise-cancelling technology works. They only block persistent sounds, which an ambulance siren isn't as it changes pitch rapidly.

[logical_proof]

It's illegal to drive with headphones on let alone noise cancelling ones in many states. Some have exceptions for one earbud being in for phone calls. One notable state with no exceptions at all is of course California. See also Ohio, Maryland, Louisiana and more.

edit: this makes me wonder about deaf drivers... what is the intent of the law here?

[giancarlostoro]

What about a car horn? It feels insanely dangerous to use noise cancellation whilst driving.

[technol0gic]

I fully understand that noise canceling DSP algos lend themselves fully to inverting and muxing repetitive background noise like airplane noise, not sirens, but the callous, selfish effort to muffle the outside world when you're operating a multiple ton machine, often in close vicinity of other said machines, just because you don't like the sound, is problematic.