When Tom Varsel rode through Ohio on his motorcycle, he put in some earplugs, and then got a ticket. Wearing hearing protection like earplugs in both ears is illegal in most cases in the state. He's challenging the ban, which is also a contentious issue in other states.If you're wearing earplugs while driving, even if you're listening to our program, you may be violating the law. While this is not usually an issue for people behind the wheel, some who ride motorcycles say they need earplugs to protect them from the noise of the road. Without ear protection, riders worry they'll go deaf. From member station WCPN in Cleveland, Tony Ganzer reports. TONY GANZER, BYLINE: You may think the biggest problem with sound while on a big bike or, in my case, a small-but-trusty scooter would be the vehicles themselves, but that's not usually the case. RALPH BUSS: It's the wind, yeah. And it's bound to be permanent damage. GANZER: Ralph Buss is an Ohio motorcycle accident attorney. He has a motorcycle in his office left over from a previous case.

BUSS: Deafness is a serious problem that people don't think about, don't address. But when you talk to the average serious motorcyclist, he usually has to turn one ear or the other because one is pretty much shot. GANZER: The challenge when you're cruising on two wheels is the wind whipping about your head. This is what 35 miles per hour sounds like on a quiet scooter. The wind begins to drown out other sounds. Some riders use earplugs to help lessen the noise, but that leads to another risk, like a fine. Last year, Ralph Buss lost an appeal defending a motorcyclist who was ticketed for wearing ear plugs. It is illegal to use earplugs in both ears while operating a vehicle unless you're an emergency or road worker. Eric Healy is a hearing science professor at the Ohio State University who testified in the earplug challenge. ERIC HEALY: What's clear is that wind noise on a motorcycle can be very, very intense, intense enough to damage your hearing. And what's also crystal clear is that earplugs can remedy that, you know, almost completely.

GANZER: To determine the level of wind noise motorcyclists face, Healy took a recording device for a drive with PhD students. Imagine a mannequin head with anatomically-correct ears stuck out a window. His findings matched previous research showing that at speeds as low as 35 miles per hour, wind noise exceeded 85 decibels. HEALY: Sounds over that are known to cause hearing damage. The levels that we measured were in the range of 110 to 130 dB. GANZER: So he says earplugs, which could drop noise levels 30 DB or so, are useful. Even a helmet might not be the answer. One helmet maker says it now defaults to advising riders to wear earplugs. But riders face confusion trying to discern what is legal. In Ohio, for instance, you can't wear earplugs, but South Dakota, on the other hand, has no earplug law on the books. And in Maryland, only custom ear plugs or molds are allowed. That is similar to a law California used to have. NICK HARIS: We couldn't find a sort of illegal justification for it.

GANZER: Nick Haris is the western states representative with the American Motorcyclist Association. It worked to change California's law in 2004 from allowing custom plugs to any plugs as long as riders and drivers could still hear horns or sirens. HARIS: When we started having these discussions with the legislature, nobody came out of the woodwork, let's say, and had a reason why the language existed in that manner. GANZER: Harris says there's no real effort on ear plug because there's no uniform federal earplug law addressing it. motorcycle accessories shop osakaBack in Ohio, there's no big rush to change that state's ban on using earplugs. motorcycle shops aberdeen waWhile some state lawmakers think the issue could be raised without upsetting the apple cart, others worry that bringing up one motorcycle issue might attract unwanted debate over controversial helmet laws. 250cc motorcycles made in china

But then again, if riders don't find a way to protect their ears, some may not hear anything much at all. For NPR News, I'm Tony Ganzer in Cleveland. Copyright © 2015 NPR. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.harley davidson for sale tulsaAndy Brennan stumbles a little on pocked, uneven pavement outside a crowded campus bar. used dirt bikes for sale pittsburgh paHe is already expecting scrutiny from the door guy.the best 800cc motorcycle

The bouncer looks skeptically from the chubby, wild-haired man on the ID, to the trim, clean-cut man wearing black spectacles in front of him. They look like two different people. Brennan, a third-year in business at Ohio State, said he understands the incredulity of strangers. If someone had shown him two and a half years ago what his life would be like today, he wouldn’t have believed it either. At about 12:50 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2011, Brennan, then 24, was ejected from the back of a friend’s motorcycle when it crashed while going approximately 120 mph. a2 motorcycle license priceNeither of them were wearing helmets. The driver of the motorcycle and Brennan’s childhood friend, Aaron Richard Miller, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene. Brennan was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. “I don’t know how long I was in a coma, but I think it was a week after the accident, I remember coming to a little bit and my dad basically said, ‘You were in a motorcycle accident and they had to amputate your leg,’” Brennan said.

“I remember saying something like, ‘Why’d they scrape me off the road?’” Brennan also sustained bruises to his lungs, breaks throughout his thoracic spine, which is the middle portion of the spine, a severely broken right leg and a severe diffuse axonal injury, which is the tearing of the brain’s connecting nerve fibers that happens when the brain shifts and rotates inside the skull. The doctors were initially unsure of the extent of his brain damage, Brennan said. “They didn’t think I’d live to see November,” Brennan said. “My memory is all messed up, but I remember a doctor sitting down with my dad and I, and the doctor told my dad I would be in a nursing home for the rest of my life.” Brandon Scott, Brennan’s best friend since first grade, went to visit him while he was still comatose, about 72 hours after the accident. “I imagine he wanted answers from me, yet he wasn’t able to communicate to find out what was happening,” Scott said.

“It was certainly heartbreaking because I always have answers for him, no matter if it’s what he wants to hear or not.” After emerging from a coma, Brennan made an unexpected recovery. Within six months of the accident he was living on his own, walking using a prosthetic leg and working. It was a turnaround from his life before the crash, Brennan said. “Before the accident, I was just treading water,” Brennan said. “I was out of school and if I wasn’t drunk, I was hungover at work.” Since the accident, Brennan has lost about 80 pounds, has stopped drinking and smoking and has focused on school. “It’s a double-edged sword because I like where I’m at but I hate how I got here,” Brennan said. “I’m just a regular guy trying to un-screw-up all the years I spent drunk.” Ali Ball, who has been friends with Brennan for about seven years, said she initially feared the accident would impact the rest of his life in a negative way, but quickly found the opposite to be true.

“Andy’s confidence levels are through the roof now, and he was not like that at all before the accident,” Ball said. “The accident was awful, but there is an incredibly thick silver lining because he has truly changed for the better.” Ball said Brennan’s positive attitude often results in his using humor to diffuse other peoples’ awkwardness about his prosthetic leg. “Drunk people are always like, ‘That’s a cool leg!’ but I like to joke and say, ‘it’s cool, but I liked my old one better,’” Brennan said. Brennan said he doesn’t mind talking about his prosthetic, but he would like to be treated as any other person. “Everyone always tells me that it doesn’t matter, but when strangers come up to you all the time after they figure out you have a prosthetic, you start to realize they are just talking to you because of your leg,” Brennan said. Although having one leg is difficult, Brennan said the brain injury is often harder to explain.