Something You Likely Do On A Road Trip Is Ruining Your Gas Mileage And Damaging Your Hearing

When the warm weather begins to thaw us all out, many travelers take the opportunity to see the country on a road trip. A long drive can be very freeing as you whiz down stunning and storied routes, visiting America's unique roadside stops along the way. While you're planning your road trip, however, there is something you may be missing. It's not an item you're forgetting to put in the trunk or a spot on the map that you missed. Instead, it has to do with your driving habits. If you tend to drive with your windows down, you could be harming your hearing and making the trip cost you more in the end.

Of course, we all want to feel the wind in our hair as we drive, and as a passenger, you may want to close your eyes and enjoy the breeze on your face. However, your car is going to be less fuel efficient if you drive with your windows down. When they're open, the air doesn't slide around the smooth shape of the car. Instead, it goes in through the windows, causing resistance. That, in turn, causes the engine to have to do more work to maintain the same speed, and that, of course, takes more gas (if you have a car that uses fuel, that is).

Moreover, if you're in a rollover crash, driver safety expert and crash investigator Mike Pehl says in a Drive Safe Ride Safe video that keeping the windows up helps keep the car frame stable, which may reduce your risk of suffering injuries. In a T-bone crash, closed windows can also reduce the risk of head injuries. And, according to a 2021 study published in Science of the Total Environment, keeping your windows up can also protect you from air pollution.

It's not just your crash safety, fuel efficiency, and lungs that can be negatively affected by keeping your windows down on a road trip. Rolling the windows down can also damage your hearing. First, the wind that blows in through the opening can be incredibly loud. Add in the sounds of your own car's engine (which, again, is working harder when the windows are down), general traffic, and the sounds of motorcycles and large trucks, and the noise can hit 100 decibels and above. A decibel level above 100 can begin to damage your hearing within just 15 minutes. (For reference, a normal conversation is usually between 60 and 70 decibels.) Add in the fact that you may be listening to some tunes, which you'll have to turn up to hear over the noise from the road and the wind, and you could be seriously hurting your ears. The resulting condition is called "noise-induced hearing loss," and while you may not have any idea it's happening at the moment, the damage is occurring.

If you do open the windows for fresh air, do it sparingly and take breaks so it's not a constant din in the background. Even if you're driving in a convertible, keeping the side windows up can help mitigate the noise. Rather than keep the windows down, it's a good idea to get fresh air while taking breaks at rest stops or at scenic outlooks. Plan out your stops so you have some time to enjoy the scenery.

One more piece of advice: Consider wearing SPF during your road trip. Your car windows block most UVB rays from the sun. However, they won't block UVA rays that contribute to skin damage, signs of aging, and skin cancer. Sunscreen is important, no matter what you do with your windows. If you don't already have a product on hand, try Samantha Brown's suggested sunscreen.