Driving in a convertible increases risk of hearing loss

From the New York Times: At speeds greater than 55 miles per hour, driving in a convertible with its top down produces sufficient noise to increase the risk of hearing loss, a study has found. Occupants are advised to raise the roof — however many style points that may cost them.

That is the conclusion of a joint study conducted by researchers from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine’s department of otolaryngology and the Ear Institute of Texas. The team’s findings were recently published in England’s Journal of Laryngology & Otology.

In one of the most self-sacrificing medical experiments in memory, the wind-blown researchers logged seat time in the following vehicles:

• 2009 Saturn Sky Red Line

• 2004 Nissan 350Z

• 2001 Porsche 911 C4

•2005 Saab Aero Convertible

• 2005 Ford Mustang GT

The tops were down and windows open while measurements were taken at 55, 65 and 75 m.p.h.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health defines 85 decibels as “excessive noise exposure,” so the researchers used that figure as a benchmark. The agency also defines “normal conversation” occurring at about 60 dB, a lawnmower at 90 dB and a chainsaw at 110 dB.

Researchers found it easy to hit 85 dB in a top-down convertible.

“When the convertible cars were driven with the top open, high levels of noise were consistently recorded,” the study said.

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US federal agency to investigate Honda Accord Hybrid

From the New York Times: A little more than five years after a crash killed Lalitha Seetharaman’s husband, Gautam, she is hoping the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will be able to confirm her contention that her Honda Accord Hybrid’s brakes were responsible for his death.

To obtain that information, she is employing a little-used and little-known federal regulation that requires the safety agency to consider carrying out a defect investigation.

Ms. Seetharaman, 31, of Newton, Pa., was driving the Accord Hybrid at the time of the accident, in which she was badly injured. She was initially charged with careless operation, but the charge was later dismissed for “not meeting the burden of proof,” according to officials from the New Jersey State Police and local court.

Lalitha Seetharaman hopes to learn whether the brakes on her Honda Accord Hybrid contributed to the crash in which her husband, Gautam, was killed.Now, N.H.T.S.A. is considering whether to grant her defect petition, which would ask the safety agency to investigate Ms. Seetharaman’s claim: that a loss of stopping power occurs when the Accord Hybrid’s brakes are applied on a rough or uneven surface. Read more...

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The silent EV menace? US Senate makes pedestrian warning systems mandatory

From the Green Car Advisor: Ah, the bliss of rolling down the road in your nice quiet EV! Wait! Did we say quiet? Maybe at speed, but apparently not when you are rolling slowly through residential neighborhoods or pulling up to crosswalks.

The U.S. Senate has just unanimously (amazing they can do anything unanimously these days!) approved a measure by hybrid-driving Sen. John Kerry that will lead to a requirement for hybrids, EVs and other quiet-running vehicles to generate a pedestrian warning noise of some sort.

The measure by the Massachusetts Democrat is called the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010. It instructs the Transportation departmental to establish safety standards for alerting pedestrians to the presence of vehicles that otherwise are so quiet as to be difficult to hear.

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