Uni crash helmet study
Academics at two Bath universities are investigating whether motorcycle helmets could cause harm as well as good for riders.
Dr Michael Carley, from the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Bath, and Dr Nigel Holt, from the department of psychology at Bath Spa University, are leading the new study.
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bike helmets
They are looking into how much noise is transmitted through a motorcyclist's helmet and how this affects the rider's hearing and ability to concentrate.
Dr Carley said: "The noise inside the helmet at the legal speed of 70 mph is higher than the legal limit for noise at work – more than enough to cause serious hearing damage.
"The issue isn't noisy engines or loud exhausts as you may think. The noise is simply from the airflow over the helmet.
"Earplugs won't help much either as the noise is transferred into the inner ear from the rider's bones. This has been known for 20 years yet little research has been done on the noise and its effects."
The pair are being assisted in their research by Dr Ian Walker, from the University of Bath's psychology department, and the project is being funded by the research group The Leverhulme Trust.
Their study will be split into two parts, with the first involving applying low level vibration to people's heads to see how noise is transmitted through the helmet and into the head.
Dr Carley, who is directing the first study, said: "We already know that the noise passes to the ear partly through air and partly through the rider's bones.
"To reduce hearing damage we must establish which route is more important and a higher priority to hearing protection measures."
The second part of the study will involve playing noise back to participants while they carry out cognitive tasks - actions involving thought, to see if they have the required level of concentration needed to ride a bike.
Dr Holt said: "It is known that noise can affect perception and cognition but, so far, nobody has tried to examine how noise in motorcycling affects the performance of riders."
The project will start this month (feb) and will last for the next year.
Dr Holt said it was important to emphasis that helmets were incredibly important to protect riders, but their research would hopefully make them safer and more comfortable.
He said: "This isn't about putting people off riding or wearing helmets; it's about finding ways to reduce this damage so that riders can have a better riding experience.
"We hope the research will provide information which can be used in setting standards for helmets and to help improve helmet and motorcycle design."
2 Comments
by david Thomas, yorkshire
Monday, February 15 2010, 10:08AM
“Very worthwhile research. I rode a bike for over ten years, involving frequent motorway dashes in a, not very well fitting, helmet and I've often wondered if that was a significant factor in my hearing loss. I used to travel from Cardiff to Gloucester most weekends and would spend most of Saturday unable to hear anything. You're right about the earplugs, they didn't help. In future I hope your research will reduce the number of deaf, elderly bikers.”
by Steve Denning, Bath
Friday, January 29 2010, 9:53AM
“My experience of new helmets suggests that wind noise is not being considered during their design. I don't remember thinking that wind noise was excessive in a helmet before I bought a new one about ten years ago and it would be interesting to know what has changed in helmet design philosophy. One example that I bought sounded like a whistling kettle at any speed over 20 mph - this seemed to be regarded as not unusual when I returned it for being too noisy. Very few reviews of helmets that I have read mention wind noise and as one usually can't try them properly before purchase and shops are unwilling to accept them back if unsatisfactory lots of riders are being condemned to discomfort and hearing damage. As a significant proportion of one's awareness of the road comes from hearing anything that impairs that perception must be considered to be potentially dangerous. I hope that the results of this research convince the certification bodies to incorporate noise reduction into the relevant standards.”