A Mechanism for assessment of automobile noise impact on drivers and passengers

Abstract

This article is devoted to the negative impact of powerful acoustic music systems installed in passenger cars on the organism and attention of the driver and passengers during vehicle movement, as well as their impact on the environment. The growth of urbanization made noise impact a constant part of human life in populated areas, as well as a source of significant pollution of the urban environment. Lately the issue of combating noise pollution has been one of the most important tasks in many states. The most common parameter for evaluation of noise produced by automobile and city ground electric transport in populated areas, used to determine the noise characteristic of the traffic flow, is the equivalent sound level L Aeq , dBA. Not only the engine and other structural components represent the source of automobile noise but acoustic music systems installed in the passenger compartment as well. The use of such systems at high sound levels not only has a negative physiological impact, but also deprives the driver of acoustic information content, thus increasing the risk of a road accident. This parameter is used in most technical standards as noise exposure standard. To evaluate the traffic noise level, the Testo 816 sound level meter is used in accordance with Russian and international technical standards. We chose two music systems with different sensitivity for our study: a factory-installed player and a modern system with two speakers and a subwoofer without an amplifier. Following the measurement results, parameters of the examined music systems are compared, and conclusions were made.