Study: Drivers do not hear loud motorcycles

Posted on by admin

Table of contents

Motorcycle noise

Debate about the volume of motorcycles

Study: Drivers do not hear loud motorcycles
MV Agusta

counselor

technology & future

Study: Drivers do not hear loud motorcycles

Noise study explains
Drivers cannot hear loud motorbikes either

Don’t worry, it won’t be the same again “All mopeds are too loud”-Warning article. This is about that “quality”, old catchphrase “Loud pipes saves lives”: That was never true in social terms, but it has now also been scientifically proven. And still, an uneasy feeling remains.


Jens Kratschmar

December 28, 2020

First of all tragic: two-wheelers are too often overlooked by four-wheelers. Unfortunately not correct: loud two-wheelers are not overheard. Now an uneasy feeling remains and the question knocks shyly from the inside on the forehead: If the driver often overlooks me and doesn’t hear me no matter how loudly, what should I do for my safety?

Motorcyclists Association works with university.

The Romanian Pro-Motorcycle Association for the National Development of Motorcycling, together with the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and the noise emission specialists Enviro Consult, conducted a study to determine how much motorcycle noise actually arrives in the car. In doing so, they primarily asked the question of where and from when the motorcycle can be heard in the interior. Since this is difficult to measure while driving, the research group carried out this test while the vehicle was stationary – but with the motorcycle at maximum speed. Right below is the video with the short version of the study.

At the same time, the car’s engine was kept between 2,500 and 3,000 revolutions, the radio was set to 20 decibels and the motorcycle was placed 15 meters, then ten meters, then next to the car and finally in front of the car. So quasi a stationary noise measurement only at maximum speed with a correspondingly absurdly high sound pressure. Anyone who now thinks that the driver’s teeth will fall out of the jaw is seriously mistaken: with the radio switched on at normal volume (20 decibels), the motorcycle cannot be heard 15 meters (minimum distance in town) behind the car. Even at a distance of ten meters, the sound insulation of the car and the sound pressure of its own frequencies is greater than the motorbike howling in the rev limiter.


Study: Drivers do not hear loud motorcycles


MotoADN

Sound pressure is not just noise

Only below this distance does the motorcycle slowly become audible in the car. But only in terms of sound pressure, i.e. the result of all frequencies. However, only very low frequencies reached the interior and they are fundamentally more difficult for the human ear to identify and even more difficult to isolate in a mishmash of frequencies.


Study: Drivers do not hear loud motorcycles


psdesign1 (fotolia)

With the front wheel of the motorcycle at the level of the rear wheel of the car, the sound pressure of the motorcycle could be heard clearly in the car for the first time, but only the loudest of the six models tested, which let 110 decibels out of the accessory bag in the limiter. The other five motorcycles were still very far below the audible limit even here and only audible in the interior when they drove in front of the car. In other words: the motorcycle is only really audible in the interior when it is at the height of the car. But by then it is usually too late to correct lane changes or turning errors.


Study: Drivers do not hear loud motorcycles


Jacek Bilski

Here are a few more facts about the study:

  1. The difference between the loudest and the quietest motorcycle at maximum speed was just under 30 decibels, i.e. ten times the perceived volume.
  2. An average of seven decibels difference in sound pressure was measured in front of the motorcycle and behind the motorcycle. The noise behind the motorcycle is perceived as more than twice as loud as in front of the motorcycle.
  3. Measured in front of the car, the sound pressure values ​​in the interior have decreased again compared to the measurement next to the vehicle. Reason: Cars are designed to be soundproofed from the front as well as possible.

Conclusion

The difference between being overlooked and remaining unheard of is that you can easily change either one. Make yourself visible. You can also do this without a neon helmet and safety vest, for example by making yourself noticeable to drivers with a good position in the field of vision of the mirror.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *