The subject of wearing earplugs when driving came up on another thread.
Some people thought it a good idea, others thought it might be dangerous.
Having thought about it, the idea increasingly appeals to me. Earplugs come in different forms, and very few would block out loud noises. In fact, I reckon that even noises like road roar and rain hitting the windscreen would still be easily audiblewith most earplugs - though they would be pretty muffled.
I did a quick google and found a site in the US selling professional driver's earplugs. These earplugs had "Interchangeable attenuation filters that let you choose the level of attenuation you need in specific situations. Lower attenuation for city driving and higher attenuation to fight the wind noise on the highway." (However, I would have thought foam ones would be quite acceptable.)
Has anyone any evidence on the safety or otherwise of driving with earplugs?
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Anything a driver intentionally uses that impairs their ability to see or hear what is outside the car is a bad idea. So that includes tints on windows used by the driver, loud stereo, use of a mobile phone etc.
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Quite right ly. It's probably legal to wear side blinkers while driving, but is it a good idea?
Unless you are employed to drive a very noisy vehicle, I would concentrate on repairing the blowing exhaust, turning the radio down, etc. :o) and perhaps look for a quieter car next time you change....
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You wouldn't be able to hear that ambulance trying to get passed you to save someone's life as you were listening to "Take That" !
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You wouldn't be able to hear that ambulance trying to get passed you to save someone's life as you were listening to "Take That" !
Really?
I wear earplugs while riding a motorbike and I'm well able to hear sirens
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> Anything a driver intentionally uses that impairs their ability to see or hear what is outside the car is a bad idea. So that includes tints on windows used by the driver, loud stereo, use of a mobile phone etc.
Sounds like you just called sun glasses bad there, Yokel.
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I ride too and wear molded ear plugs not sure if he wants to listen to music or just wear plugs.
I know it might not make much difference but under a helmet outside might be louder than plugs in a car getting through the cabin ?..dunno.
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I have some of these foam plugs that you roll up and stuff in your ear and they expand to fill the cavity. They take away most of the droning noise but you are still able to hear sharp sounds such as voices, horns etc. I'm going to take them on long haul flights.
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>>that you roll up and stuff in your ear and they expand to fill the cavity>>
Still trying to get my head around that one...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Espada 111
You should not talk about your wife like that !
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Sounds like you just called sun glasses bad there, Yokel
Sunglasses,used properly,enable to see better by bnot being blinded by glare.
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Sierraman - I said "intentionally uses that impairs their ability to see ..." - sure, if you wear shades at night/in fog, but I can't see them impairing vison in bright sunlight.
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The earplugs on the hands-free with my sony phone are very good at blocking out extraneous noise - so much so that it feels very strange when driving, and I rarely use them - I'm looking to bluetootch or something similar (it Santa Claus is listening)
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Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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It's almost a year since I started this thread.
I was reminded of it by Tack, who recently wrote, speaking about his new C4 Picasso, "my Exclusive has acoustic glass. Makes it a really silent cruiser. However, with radio/CD on at normal level, cannot hear emergency sirens. "
(See www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=56...0 ) {added a space between the 0 and close bracket so that the link will work - DD}
I've experimented a few times in the past few months using earplugs on journeys of 50 miles or so. I don't listen to the CD / Radio etc. Based on my experiments, I'd say that Espada is correct. I can hear rain on the windscreen if it is heavy, and would have no difficulty at all in hearing a siren or something loud. Wind and engine noise seems to be filtered out very effectively, road noise a little less so. One could say that it is a fairly cheap way of getting Lexus like refinement.
On the safety issue, two comments.
1) It sounds to me like wearing foam earplugs is probably less dangerous than having acoustic glass.
2) The main danger in wearing earplugs is that of "speed creep" when driving on empty roads. Because the car is so quiet, I found myself going faster that I intend.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 26/10/2007 at 01:27
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Seems like a great idea to deaden the constant twittering of her indoors in my left ear.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I found them essential in a Caterham if I was doing more than a few miles otherwise tinnitus would set in.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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