Any noise over a given decibel threshold damages hearing. I think the problem in car crashes is probably the airbags though: airbag inflation is very loud. One

Any noise over a given decibel threshold damages hearing. I think the problem in car crashes is probably the airbags though: airbag inflation is very loud. One article I found ( http://www.sae.org/standardsdev/tsb/cooperative/airbag.htm http://www.sae.org/standardsdev/tsb/cooperative/airbag.htm ) suggests 170dB, vs 140dB for the car crash itself. 170dB is well within the 'can cause permanent hearing loss' range. 140dB is 'this hurts' (and probably causes hearing loss).