The Sound of an Airbag Deploying Is 160 dB. What Can One Do?

My T is spiking now as a result of a fire alarm beeping after the power came back on. My fire alarm is now disabled. I will look into getting a fire alarm for deaf people. If you want to learn from my fail, you know what to do...
 
So your airbag doesn't deploy, your head smashes against your steering wheel, and you live the rest of your days as a quadriplegic. But your T isn't any worse.

How about...buy a set of Peltor combat arms ear plugs and leave them in your car if you're that worried about an air bag deploying. Seems a lot easier and a lot safer.

And yes, they will provide protection.
 
@pef

How can your head smash the steering wheel with a seat belt ?
Wearing plugs all the time inside a car is not a feasible long term solution unless you do only short drives
I did wear Peltor muffs inside my car due to the noise and I'm sick of it
 
Yeah, great, a Peltor and you're fine ! It's what, 30 dB protection ? 40dB maybe ? 160 - 40dB is still a lot to handle, especially if many airbags deploy...

Some people can't get the idea that for some people (in my case at least), death is far less scary than a worsened hearing condition. Because they already are on the edge.

Thought it was a support group but no, some people NEED to be really judgmental.

What do you care if someone wants to do it ? Is it helpful to just judge ?

hard to say? a bunch of stuff happened over that time period. I'd be pretty surprised if some amount of my hearing loss didn't happen then, though, if they are really 170db.
My life changed in an instant because of a popped kid's ballon inside a car. This is now this shitty life with hearing loss (60dB), H and T. One more event like this and I'm dead anyway.
 
especially if many airbags deploy...

Well, that would not change the sound level that much.
I also believe wearing ear defenders would provide high protection against this type of noise. And thus would make the airbag deactivation more risky than the airbag deployment noise.
120 dB is a lot to handle yes, but if it lasts a quarter of second and that the sound does not directly reaches your ears it would be fine for most T sufferers
 
Some people can't get the idea that for some people (in my case at least), death is far less scary than a worsened hearing condition.

That part is quite easy to understand (I am sympathetic), but you make it sound like you get to chose one or the other. You could easily end up with another horrible health condition in addition to T, and not be dead. You could even get more T from the physics of your body's motion in a crash that wasn't damped by an air bag. Nobody can predict really, and any belief that you can modify outcomes to your liking are pure illusion, in my opinion.

Good luck!
 
Well, that would not change the sound level that much.
I also believe wearing ear defenders would provide high protection against this type of noise. And thus would make the airbag deactivation more risky than the airbag deployment noise.
120 dB is a lot to handle yes, but if it lasts a quarter of second and that the sound does not directly reaches your ears it would be fine for most T sufferers

Do you use earplugs or earmuffs when driving?
 
It happened that I did it, with the fear of airbag deployment.
But now I don't really care about it anymore, I accepted the idea that it is very unlikely to happen
 
That part is quite easy to understand (I am sympathetic), but you make it sound like you get to chose one or the other. You could easily end up with another horrible health condition in addition to T, and not be dead. You could even get more T from the physics of your body's motion in a crash that wasn't damped by an air bag. Nobody can predict really, and any belief that you can modify outcomes to your liking are pure illusion, in my opinion.

Good luck!
You're completely right and there is no ideal solution. It's all about personal choices we make. That's why I don't understand why some people here are so judgmental.

I respect the one who "needs" his 10 airbags. I respect the one who doesn't even wonder about it. I respect those like me who'd like to be able to deactivate them (with no possibility to do it legally really).
 
I was in a fairly bad accident a couple years ago. It was a stormy night and I was lost and stressed out and drove head-on into a wooden light pole. There was a huge crashing sound, the entire front of car caved-in, and the airbag deployed quite forcefully. I remember being dazed and my ears ringing pretty loudly (I already had tinnitus from many years before.) It eventually went down. Although I suspect these traumas build up over time. But the airbag saved my life, for better or worse. :)
 
Bill,

I honestly don't remember. I think that the whole accident was such a shock that it took focus away from the ringing. It was just a relief overall to be walking away. But it didn't do as much damage as I feared something like this would do. It might very well have been a contributor to increases that have occurred since that time. Or maybe not.
 
I was in a fairly bad accident a couple years ago. It was a stormy night and I was lost and stressed out and drove head-on into a wooden light pole. There was a huge crashing sound, the entire front of car caved-in, and the airbag deployed quite forcefully. I remember being dazed and my ears ringing pretty loudly (I already had tinnitus from many years before.) It eventually went down. Although I suspect these traumas build up over time. But the airbag saved my life, for better or worse. :)
This is the kind of driving people do in cars with airbags - speeding because the bags give a sense of protection . There was another similar "bags saved my life " story from a person in these forums where speeding under bad driving condition was the cause of the crash .

A crash alone is 140db

My car has no bags so I drive accordingly
 
Yeah, great, a Peltor and you're fine ! It's what, 30 dB protection ? 40dB maybe ? 160 - 40dB is still a lot to handle, especially if many airbags deploy...

Some people can't get the idea that for some people (in my case at least), death is far less scary than a worsened hearing condition. Because they already are on the edge.

Thought it was a support group but no, some people NEED to be really judgmental.

What do you care if someone wants to do it ? Is it helpful to just judge ?


My life changed in an instant because of a popped kid's ballon inside a car. This is now this shitty life with hearing loss (60dB), H and T. One more event like this and I'm dead anyway.

Hardly judgmental. I just don't want anyone else to think its a good idea to disable a life saving device that deploys in a car accident so they don't risk hearing damage. That makes little sense to me. There are many conditions that are worse than T, like serious head injuries.

And this is a support group. But "support" does not mean not calling out a monumentally bad idea just to spare someone's feelings.
 
Hardly judgmental. I just don't want anyone else to think its a good idea to disable a life saving device that deploys in a car accident so they don't risk hearing damage. That makes little sense to me. There are many conditions that are worse than T, like serious head injuries.

And this is a support group. But "support" does not mean not calling out a monumentally bad idea just to spare someone's feelings.

Agree. Also, this is like avoiding flying because some planes crash, crossing streets because some people get run over, not going outdoor because a lightning can strike you. S#it happens. Airbags can make a s#itty situation less s#hitty. If you don't have plans on getting an engineering degree and joining the auto industry, better to leave it be. ;)
 
Newer Mercedes Benz cars will play pink noise at 80db through the car stereo if the sensors detect an imminent collision.

"When presented with a high-intensity sound stimulus, the stapedius and tensor tympani muscles of the ossicles contract.[1] The stapedius stiffens the ossicular chain by pulling the stapes (stirrup) of the middle ear away from the oval window of the cochlea and the tensor tympani muscle stiffens the ossicular chain by loading the tympanic membrane when it pulls the malleus (hammer) in toward the middle ear. The reflex decreases the transmission of vibrational energy to the cochlea, where it is converted into electrical impulses to be processed by the brain." -Wiki


 
Newer Mercedes Benz cars will play pink noise at 80db through the car stereo if the sensors detect an imminent collision.

"When presented with a high-intensity sound stimulus, the stapedius and tensor tympani muscles of the ossicles contract.[1] The stapedius stiffens the ossicular chain by pulling the stapes (stirrup) of the middle ear away from the oval window of the cochlea and the tensor tympani muscle stiffens the ossicular chain by loading the tympanic membrane when it pulls the malleus (hammer) in toward the middle ear. The reflex decreases the transmission of vibrational energy to the cochlea, where it is converted into electrical impulses to be processed by the brain." -Wiki



This is great stuff but it would be even greater if they would make airbags that don't blow up at 160 db.

That said, a lot of stuff MB has come up with over the years ends up being standard on lots of other cars so it's nice to see that car makers are addressing this issue.
 
This is great stuff but it would be even greater if they would make airbags that don't blow up at 160 db.

That said, a lot of stuff MB has come up with over the years ends up being standard on lots of other cars so it's nice to see that car makers are addressing this issue.

This has all been discussed before. It would be monumentality hard, if not improbable, to have a bag inflate quick enough without explosives being involved. The sound of the collision alone is going to be loud, and there's going to be trauma of some kind regardless. I think part of the healing process is letting go, and not letting T and H dictate to you in this way.

It's never easy, but life is full of much bigger dangers than airbags. Whether it be a threat to our ears or our lives, there are things we should pay attention to, and other things we just need to let be. We ultimately can't control everything that's in our destiny, and the day we stop trying, the stronger we can become both mentally and emotionally.

However, if people want to do this then so be it. It's a free world. Just don't offer anyone a lift, or advise others to do so. Like someone else said above: the more logical approach would be to stop driving if it's a huge concern.

I refuse to bend over backwards to accommodate this affliction in everything I do. Compromises have to be made, but sometimes I think people go too far.
 
Unfortunately this is negative thinking which is a sure way of allowing tinnitus to control your life.
It Should control my life. Whether we like it, or not, it is a life-changing condition. Even if it ever fades, if one Doesn't change everything one does in one's day to day life, it will likely come back. If one doesn't change one's lifestyle while living with chronic tinnitus, its volume will be more likely to increase.

Things like your salary, whether or not you are blind, etc., should all determine what you do in your life. What you do in your life can't be divorced from the constraints that you have to work with.
 
You can ignore reality, but you might not be able to ignore the consequences of not ignoring reality...


"I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened." (Usually credited to Mark Twain).

You are free to live your life anyway you want. I'm of the belief that if you aren't affecting others, then we all have free will. That doesn't mean we all have to agree with each other on the subject of disabling airbags. As long as there's no passengers at any point then it's a free choice, but in my opinion it's a bizarre one considering the other possible consequences. T and H can worsen anyway, even if you live by a code of life limiting rules.
 
Things like your salary, whether or not you are blind, etc., should all determine what you do in your life. What you do in your life can't be divorced from the constraints that you have to work with.

With all due respect. You are trying to be clever by using words to justify your negativity. I advise you to take heed of what @Ed209 is saying and the many other positive people who are at tinnitus talk. Just because one has tinnitus doesn't mean their life is destined to be one of doom and gloom. I was medically retired from my job many years ago because of tinnitus. I didn't give up and say I can't go on. When I asked my consultant in 2010 to be candid about my condition as I felt it wasn't improving anymore after 2 years of TRT for the second time in 11 years. She said and I quote: "You are the second worst patient that I have treated with this condition".

I wanted the floor to open there and then and swallow me whole. Then she said: " I will never give up on treating you". It took 4 years for me to habituate to tinnitus for the 2nd time. It now fluctuates from: Silent, mild, moderate, and severe. Yesterday I took my clonazepam and haven't taken it for months. However, the tinnitus was very intrusive so had little choice. Life is problematic, but that doesn't mean we should all give up and say I can't go on.

Michael
 

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