Seeing someone with AirPods or other earbuds while doing pretty much any activity is not uncommon in 2025: at the grocery store, at sporting events, even during court hearings.

But is it legal to drive in Ohio with earbuds in your ears? The short answer is, “No.”

Wearing headphones or earbuds, even if no music or other sound is playing, is illegal while driving in Ohio.

The law applies to any device worn in or over the ears, whether wired or connected via Bluetooth, that can provide radio programming, music, or other information.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Brandi Allen issues a warning in April 2023 to a driver who she saw driving while distracted.

The law does not apply to hearing aids or medical devices. Earpieces used by first responders and emergency personnel for communication purposes are also permitted.

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Ohio’s law also provides exceptions for people driving machinery that creates loud noise, like garbage trucks and highway maintenance vehicles. An exception also exists for motorcyclists who wear earplugs or another device to protect their hearing while driving.

Drivers in Ohio are expected to be able to hear what is going on around them, like sirens from emergency vehicles and warning sounds from trains.

Ohio’s headphones law is considered a secondary traffic offense, meaning a driver can’t be pulled over just for wearing them. However, if the driver gets pulled over for something else, like speeding, an officer can cite them for having them in their ears.

Does Ohio’s law about wearing earbuds while driving get enforced?

Franklin County Municipal Court records indicate that 52 tickets have been issued for wearing headphones since 2020, with seven of these occurring in the first six months of 2025.

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Columbus police filed the most citations, 43 of the 52.

By comparison, there have been nearly 5,000 citations for distracted driving issued during the same time frame. The vast majority, approximately 3,500, were issued by the Ohio Highway Patrol.

Distracted driving became an enforceable primary offense in Ohio in October 2023. Of the total 4,991 tickets issued in Franklin County Municipal Court for distracted driving, 4,770 were issued in 2024 and the first six months of 2025.

Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@gannett.com or on Bluesky at @bethanybruner.dispatch.com.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Is driving with headphones, AirPods legal in Ohio?

A driver struck and killed several geese in New Jersey, and police are trying to find out if it was done intentionally to the birds, which often become victims of fatal road encounters but are protected by wildlife laws.

Police responded to reports of a vehicle striking multiple geese that were crossing the road at about 6:45 p.m. on July 14 and discovered seven geese dead in Spotswood, New Jersey, a community of just over 8,000 people about 40 miles outside New York City. The driver of the vehicle left the scene, the Spotswood Police Department said in a statement. The department is reviewing surveillance footage and asking for witnesses to come forward.

It’s not yet clear whether the driver intentionally or accidentally struck the geese, the department said, noting that it could violate state and federal regulations to hurt geese on purpose.

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“We take all incidents involving wildlife seriously, especially those that may involve intentional harm to the animals,” Captain Edward Schapley said.

A review of news articles and government reports reveals that collisions with wildlife, especially geese, happen relatively frequently across the United States in roadway encounters that are sometimes deemed intentional. In June, a community in Wichita, Kansas, was unsettled by seven geese left dead in a road, KAKE reported. Two weeks later, a car chase with a driver in a stolen vehicle ended in a crash into a fence and 12 dead geese, the sheriff’s office in Dorchester County, South Carolina, said. Two summers ago, as a group of people used their cars to stop traffic to help a gaggle of 150 to 200 geese cross a road in Henderson, Nevada, a driver went around them and struck at least nine geese, a witness told ABC affiliate KTNV.

So, what should you do if you encounter geese or other animals blocking the road? Here’s what to know:

How common are car collisions with wildlife?

Tens or even hundreds of millions of birds are believed to be killed each year in collisions with cars in the U.S., researchers found in a study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management in 2014. Cars hitting birds may even contribute to population declines for some species, the study authors found.

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While birds may not cause much damage to cars, larger animals certainly do. Somewhere between 1 and 2 million crashes between vehicles and large animals like deer happen every year in the country and the number appeared to be on the rise, according to a 2008 report by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. Some 200 human lives are lost and 26,000 people are injured annually in these collisions, which also cause about $8 billion in damages per year, the report found.

Traffic slows to let some Canada geese cross the road in downtown Taunton, Massachusetts, on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024.

Animals may try to cross roads to reach food, water or shelter, experts say. Most animals can cross roads with low traffic with little problem, but as traffic increases, more collisions occur and animals may grow to avoid busy roads, isolating them from other animals and habitats on the other side, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

“The peak time to hit deer in Utah is around November,” according to Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Migration Initiative Coordinator Daniel Olson.

The timing coincides with mating season, when more deer are likely to be crossing roads during migration or to find mates, Olson said. Lower visibility in the dark when Daylight Saving Time ends also contributes to collisions, he said.

What to do when you see animals blocking the road

While driving, be on the lookout for signs indicating that wildlife are known to cross the road. If you see a group of animals attempting to cross a road or blocking a road, you should not intentionally drive into them, wildlife experts and advocates say.

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Human safety is of the utmost importance, so you should only stop if it is safe to do so, the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife said. If it is safe, brake firmly, but be careful not to cause your brakes to lock up so you don’t lose control. Don’t swerve or leave your lane to avoid an animal, the group said, noting that many accidents happen when someone swerves to avoid animals and hits oncoming traffic or a stationary object like a tree.

If a group of animals is crossing the road, don’t try to drive through them or get out of your car. You can try flashing your lights or honking your horn to encourage them to move out of the way, Defenders of Wildlife said. Once they move, drive cautiously until you clear the area.

If the animal in the road is a slow-moving turtle and you need to move it for safety, help it cross in the direction it was going. You can use a car mat or other flat surface to avoid picking it up with your hands, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.

If you do hit an animal, you should pull over and use your flashers, flares or reflective triangles if you have them to warn other drivers, Defenders of Wildlife said. Contact police, state wildlife and transportation agencies to report the collision. Don’t try to approach an injured animal, because it may bite or kick you.

Geese, other wildlife are protected under federal law

Geese, including the commonly seen Canada goose, are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which prohibits the intentional harm or killing of many species of birds. Intentionally hitting them with a car can violate both state and federal regulations, the Spotswood Police Department said.

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Efforts to protect wildlife that tend to cross roadways have included installing wildlife crossings, which are human-made structures like tunnels or bridges intended for animals to use to cross busy and dangerous roads. These crossings can range from small tunnels for amphibians to box culvert structures for larger mammals like deer.

Several states, including California, Florida and Colorado have passed legislature to install wildlife crossings or assess how new road infrastructure will impact wildlife migration patterns, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Signs warning drivers that an area is known for frequent wildlife crossings can also help, the Toronto Wildlife Centre said on its site.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Police look for driver who killed 7 geese. Can roadkill be a crime?

UPDATE (1:50 pm, July 18): According to Oneida County Sheriffs, the owner of the kayak has been located and is in good health. As a result of the investigation, the Sheriffs Office says they have no reason to believe anyone is missing.

ROME, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) — Oneida County Sheriffs are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing kayaker after finding their kayak in the Erie Canal Wednesday night.

Officers responded to the area of South James Street and Muck Road in the City of Rome at approximately 10 pm on Wednesday, July 16. According to Oneida County Sheriffs, a passerby found an unoccupied kayak in the Erie Canal and reported it to the sheriff’s office.

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Upon their arrival, Oneida County Sheriffs also discovered that the kayak was located near the center of the canal, along with a backpack and oars, initialed E.W.H. The investigation was turned over to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Criminal Investigation and Forensic Identification Units due to the severity of the situation.

Sheriffs also brought in their Marine Patrol Unit and Dive Team to assist with the search, with no results. The Rome Fire Department also searched the area via drone, with no results.

The area was shut down for several hours as police conducted their searches.

Oneida County Sheriffs were also assisted at the scene by AmCare Ambulance of Rome.

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Sheriffs are seeking the public’s assistance with the investigation. If anyone has any information, you are asked to contact the Criminal Investigations Unit at 315-765-2226.

This is an ongoing investigation. We will provide more information as it becomes available to us.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WUTR/WFXV – CNYhomepage.com.

(NEW YORK) — Dialogue heard on a cockpit voice recording indicates that the captain of the Air India flight that crashed in June, killing 260 people, may have turned off the fuel just after takeoff, prompting the first officer to panic, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with U.S. official’s early assessment.

A preliminary report released last week included detail about the switches, saying the fuel to the plane’s engines appeared to have been shut off just seconds after the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner lifted off.

According to that preliminary report, shortly after takeoff, the plane’s fuel cutoff switches for both engines went from the “RUN” position to the “CUTOFF” position, one after another within one second — shutting off fuel to both engines.

In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he hit the cutoff switch, according to the preliminary report. “The other pilot responded that he did not do so,” that report stated.

The WSJ report added detail to that conversation, saying the dialogue “between the flight’s two pilots indicates it was the captain who turned off switches that controlled fuel flowing to the plane’s two engines,” according to the WSJ’s sources.

The president of the Federation of Indian Pilots condemned the Wall Street Journal report, saying, “The preliminary report nowhere states that the pilots have moved the fuel control switches, and this has been corroborated by the CVR [cockpit voice recorder] recording.”

“Let the investigation team investigate in detail,” the president, Charanvir Singh Randhawa, said in remarks Thursday while echoing earlier comments from India’s minister of civil aviation to “wait and have patience until the time the final report comes.”

In the wake of the crash, Air India said this week that “precautionary inspections” of the locking mechanism of the fuel control switches on all of their Boeing 787 aircraft found no issues.

ABC News’ Clara McMichael contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

French air traffic control strikes disrupted over a million passengers across Europe in early July.

Workers and the French government are at an impasse, and further strikes are possible.

If you’re traveling to Europe this summer, be aware that you could face delays or cancellations.

Strikes by French air traffic controllers affected over a million people’s travel plans this month — and may be set to continue.

Citing understaffing and poor management from a government agency, France’s second-largest ATC union, UNSA-ICNA, went on strike on July 3 and 4.

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Each day, an average of around 3,700 flights were delayed and 1,400 were canceled, according to a report from Eurocontrol, the central organisation for air traffic management on the continent.

It is estimated that this cost airlines around 120 million euros, or $140 million.

The effects spread beyond France, given the international nature of aviation, and the fact that many neighbors frequently fly over the country.

“An ATC strike in France has the potential to impact a third of flights across the continent, showing the disproportionate impact that disruptions in one busy country can have on the European network as a whole,” Eurocontrol wrote in its report.

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It added that Spain was the worst affected, followed by France and the UK.

What does this mean if you have travel plans in Europe

While the unions haven’t announced any further action, it’s possible there may be more strikes.

France’s transport minister, Philippe Tabarot, called the demands “unacceptable” and expressed annoyance that strikes were targeted in the busy summer vacation travel period.

UNSA-ICNA wants pay rises in line with inflation following a 2023 agreement, more staffing, and better working conditions.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said in a statement last Friday: “What’s stopping French air traffic controllers from closing the EU skies again next week or the week after with more of these unjustified recreational strikes?”

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The Irish budget airline, Europe’s biggest, canceled 170 flights affecting 30,000 passengers.

This all means you should be wary if you’re flying to France this summer, or have another journey flying over the country, known as an overflight.

If your plan is to travel between two European countries, the continent at least has a strong rail network as an alternative. The Eurostar also links the UK and France.

However, European Union legislation about compensation for flight delays absolves airlines when there are “extraordinary circumstances,” which include strikes outside their control.

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Nonetheless, airlines are still obligated to get passengers to their destination on the next available flight.

With no deal on the horizon, disruption could occur again.

O’Leary has called on EU President Ursula von der Leyen to quit if she can’t guarantee protections for overflights during ATC strikes and maintain full staffing during the first wave of departures each day.

Meanwhile, British budget airline easyJet saw its stock price fall more than 5% Thursday morning after declaring a £15 million ($20 million) hit due to the strike. That was despite higher profits, although fuel costs also went up.

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“We are extremely unhappy with the strike action by the French ATC in early July, which, as well as presenting unacceptable challenges for customers and crew, also created unexpected and significant costs for all airlines,” said CEO Kenton Jarvis.

Were you affected by French air traffic control strikes? Have you experienced a European flightmare this summer? Contact this reporter at psyme@businessinsider.com

Read the original article on Business Insider