(ISNS)—Before hopping on his motorcycle, Michael Carley puts on earplugs, followed by his helmet. It's a step many riders take. After accelerating, most of the sound that a rider can hear isn't from the bike engine or other vehicles on the road, but from the air rushing over and around his helmet.
The helmet Carley wears is designed and tested for comfort and impact protection—but not for sound protection. Noise inside the helmet can reach rock-concert levels when traveling at highway speeds.
Carley, a mechanical engineer, has gathered a group of engineers and psychologists to study how to minimize helmet noise. The group includes researchers from two U.K. universities, the University of Bath, where Carley works, and nearby Bath Spa University. They are studying how to protect riders from hearing damage and reduce the potential distraction that noise poses to riders.
