What is the volume of the tuning fork for hearing test in driver's license physical examination?
3 Answers
The volume of the tuning fork for hearing test in driver's license physical examination is: 125-8000Hz. The following are precautions for the driver's license physical examination: 1. Get enough sleep: It is recommended to get enough sleep the day before the examination. Starting from 8 pm, try not to consume food and avoid strenuous exercise, focusing on rest. Adequate sleep can effectively prevent affecting the examination results. 2. Pay attention to daily diet: Before the examination, daily diet should be light as much as possible. Avoid overly greasy, spicy, salty, sweet, and high-fat foods. Try to eat more easily digestible foods such as noodles and porridge to avoid affecting liver and kidney function test values. 4. Try not to drink water: On the day of the examination, try not to drink water. If you are really thirsty or need to take special medications, you can drink water appropriately, but the amount should not exceed 200 milliliters to prevent affecting the urine routine test values.
As a driving school instructor, I often take students for physical exams where a standard 512Hz tuning fork is used for testing. The volume is roughly what can be clearly heard from about half a meter away. During the exam, the doctor strikes the fork from 30-50cm away, and students must raise their hand immediately upon hearing the sound. Actually, the key point of this test isn't the volume but frequency discrimination. We had a student at our driving school who passed despite having high-frequency hearing loss because their mid-to-low frequency hearing for daily communication was completely fine. If you're really concerned, many DMVs now also allow testing single-ear hearing with hearing aids, showing the policy is quite accommodating. However, hearing is indeed crucial for safe driving, especially the ability to hear emergency vehicle sirens, which is an essential skill.
During my last driver's license renewal, I experienced the hearing test. After the tuning fork was struck, the doctor would suddenly reach near your ear from behind. The sound resembled the buzzing of a phone vibrating on a wooden table—not too loud but clear enough. I specifically asked the medical examiner about the specifications, and she said the tuning forks issued by the DMV are all around 85 decibels, equivalent to an alarm clock ring. What really tests you is the ability to discern sounds amid background noise. Our examination room had the air conditioning on and other people talking, which actually made it more like a real driving environment. The new regulations now also include a voice recognition test, where you need to clearly hear command words like 'turn left' or 'turn right,' as navigation voice recognition is an important aspect of driving safety.
