On the corner of a busy junction in Acton that I pass twice a day during my cycle to and from work a small shrine of flowers and cards has sprung up alongside police signs appealing for witnesses to a "fatal incident."

The incident in question is the death of law student Patricia McMillan, who was thrown under the wheels of a truck while cycling.

The papers have latched onto the fact that Miss McMillan was listening to her iPod when she was killed, speculating that she may still be alive if she hadn't been doing so.

Matt Seaton highlights the case in his weekly Guardian column.

I, like other cyclists I know, have been brought to our senses by Miss McMillan's death and are now riding without iPods for safety reasons.

But Matt Seaton makes another, more philosophical point.

We cycle because we love the feeling of freedom, the wind whistling past out ears, the fact that we're not stuck ina traffic jam or cooped up in a train carriage.

How can we enjoy these things if we've got the Arctic Monkeys hammering away in our ears?