1. Road Safety Improvement GUIDELINES FOR THE INNOVATION
Nantakrit Yodpijit Center for Innovation in Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok
OBJECTIVE
In Thailand, recent statistics show that motorcycle is the leading cause of road traffic accidents, accounted for 74.2 % of vehicle-related injuries and deaths in Increasing acoustic awareness of motorcyclists can reduce road traffic accidents. Noise attenuation of helmets and attenuation differences between different types of helmets are still unclear. The objective of this research is to enhance road safety with a better understanding of hearing abilities of motorcyclists by investigating the changes in hearing thresholds under different helmet conditions.
METHODOLOGY
This research focuses on exploring effects of helmets and ages on changes in hearing thresholds. A total of 30 participants have been recruited from three different age groups (younger (20-45 years), middle-aged (46-60 years), and older (over 60 years) adults). Four helmet conditions: none, half face, three-quarter, and full coverage are tested. Noise attenuation on each helmet condition is analyzed and discussed.
Figure 3: a full coverage helmet attenuation (Young male adults, aged years)
Based up on current results, full coverage helmets cause temporary hearing threshold shifts. An increase in hearing thresholds can make communication more difficult and possibly result in serious road traffic accidents.
GUIDELINES FOR THE INNOVATION
Figure 1: a participant (aged 32 years) in a noise test booth
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
Findings from the current research can influence the design of hearing protection devices and road traffic warning systems.
Acknowledgements:
Author would like to acknowledge the assistance given by Titiwat Triwong and Puttapong Charoynuch who help run experiments and prepare the manuscript, Thapatcha Menasuta and Peeranat Huabkratok who prepare and do data collection, and Wannalak Laotaweesub, who helps present this research to the public.
Figure 2: a three quarter face helmet attenuation (Young male adults, aged years)