Driving Convertibles may Harm Hearing

While keeping the roof down of your convertible may look cool, a recent study has suggested that such a practice could prove to be harmful for your hearing. According to researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and the Ear Institute of Texas, people who drive over speeds of 55 miles an hour with their roof down stand at a great risk of losing their hearing since such a speed produces a lot of noise that our eardrums cannot bear.

The researchers tested five of the popular convertibles including 2009 Saturn Red Line and the 2001 Porsche 911 C4 on highways and found that the decibel levels produced when driving over 55 miles an hour was over the maximum limit of 85 decibels while it shot up to 98.7 decibels when driving over 75 miles an hour.

“Driving convertible automobiles at speeds exceeding 88.5 km/h, with the top open, may result in noise exposure levels exceeding recommended limits, especially when driving with the convertible top open for prolonged periods”, the researchers wrote in their report which was published in the Journal of Laryngology & Otology.




Source-Medindia