As a pedestrian and a driver, there are situations where it is difficult to have clear rules.
One solution, here, is to make fully residential streets children's play areas, that means a big blue shield at the entrance to a street, with a picture of houses, a street and children playing ball in the street. That means that the maximum speed allowed is walking pace. The streets usually have steep speed bumps, are bricks/stones or other non-tarmac surface or are designed so that the driver has to zig-zag a lot, so they can't drive at speed. It works generally, but you still get idiots who tear through them.
Car parks, again. Here the StVo is also in force, which means traffic from the right has priority. Again, walking pace is the fastest you are allowed to drive (although 10km/h is generally accepted).
Where there is a pavement, pedestrians aren't allowed on the road, apart from at designated crossing points. If they step out in front of a car, they are at fault, unless they are at a designated crossing. Does that mean that drivers can ignore them? No. They also have to take due care and attention and in many areas of heavy bicycle and pedestrian traffic, speeds are squashed. a 50km/h (30mph) are will be dropped to 30km/h, a 70 to 50 and 100 to 70.
Pedestrians need to take responsibility for their actions - stepping onto the cycle path and getting hit by a bicycle is their fault as well - but drivers still have to be aware of their surroundings and be prepared for pedestrian stupidity, even if they aren't going to be given the blame (for a start, most pedestrians won't be able to pay for the repairs to the car!).
Back on topic, I think one reason Apple got away with it, is that the earphones fall out every 10 seconds or so!
I left my Senheiser ones at work and had to use the ones supplied with my iPhone. Apple spend a fortune on design and styling, why do they ship such cheap/crap headphones with their iPods? Talk about the proverbial ruin the ship for haporth of tar...
