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Is it illegal for pedestrians to use earbuds or smartphones in zombie-fashion while walking? I don't think so, but that should be included in any mandate of a Pedestrian-Noise-Unit.
p.s. just turn on your A.C. when driving through the parking lot
p.s. just turn on your A.C. when driving through the parking lot
SΞXY P100D
$ Trillion Musk
dhanson865
Well-Known Member
Ironically you have to be standing directly in front of the car when its going exactly the right speed to hear it.
I've been telling my wife it makes a noise and she keeps telling me how she never hears it. For that matter i've never heard it.
It certainly isn't audible from the drivers seat.
davidc18
Active Member
Just crank up the a/c to 11 - it sounds like a jet taking off.
nexsuperne101
Closed
The AC on the Leaf is the loudest thing on it, apart from the radio at full volume. Just sounds like a standard car running. The idea above for using the AC in car parks does seem to be more effective than a noisemaker that only works at up to 19mph going forwards. There is no noise going backwards.
SW2Fiddler
We Are Cognitive Dissidents
A pair of coconuts, and banging them together.
Second choice, a bicycle bell.
Second choice, a bicycle bell.
Pluto
is a Planet
I like the idea of walking through a completely quiet city even though there are cars going by. It'd be annoying to hear cars beeping or something, especially in traffic when it would otherwise be quiet.
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AZ Desert Driver
Rare combination
A sub woofer? Now, thats the sound!!!! Barking dogs under water!! (smile)
The other posts do bring in the serious side - there are folks out there (bikers and deaf) that really need us to look out for them.
But would it not be fair to have ALL cars set to announce their presence using a sound familiar to the hearing impaired? Stop light crosswalks have an annoying beep-beep that communicates vital information to those more needy than I. Don't just make it MY car, make it ALL cars. And while you are at it - make the bikes noisy so I don't get run over. Make cellphones emit a buzz so distracted walkers don't walk into me. Goose and gander fairness, right?
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nexsuperne101
Closed
All EV's should have a freight train horn sounding off whilst driving under 20mph. That way, deaf people, as well as blind people in the next city know that you are moving. As someone that lives with a profoundly deaf person, they just use their eyes a bit more than I would. For those who are poor on sight, the cars are not totally silent, they all make a slight inverter noise, and tyre noise. Of course it could sound like the bloody awful modified MS that Saleen got hold of and mullered.
Chopr147
Active Member
Well, if you stayed to read the rest of this thread you then see how it is NOT patently ridiculous. It is already done in some EV's and rumored for the S. The next time you think you know everything, step back and count to 10, then answer
AZ Desert Driver
Rare combination
If it is good for EV, then it should be good for ICE too. How do we share the safety with them?
thecloud
As rhythm raced inside, the ship came alive
Noisemaker laws are the modern equivalent of the Red Flag Laws, which we might chuckle at today, but were also seriously enacted by well-meaning people as safety measures, due to fears that horses might be spooked and their riders injured by the approach of a motor vehicle. Today, instead of horseback riders, we're trying to protect pedestrians, but the argument is basically the same.
In the article on warning sounds that @bjelkeman posted above, the studies that were done actually demonstrated no correlation between involvement of pedestrians in accidents with an electric vehicle versus a conventional vehicle. It was also pointed out that modern ICE vehicles often make very little noise themselves.
I like the idea that General Motors has, where the sound can be emitted only if a pedestrian is detected, and thus isn't required to produce noise pollution all the time.
In the article on warning sounds that @bjelkeman posted above, the studies that were done actually demonstrated no correlation between involvement of pedestrians in accidents with an electric vehicle versus a conventional vehicle. It was also pointed out that modern ICE vehicles often make very little noise themselves.
I like the idea that General Motors has, where the sound can be emitted only if a pedestrian is detected, and thus isn't required to produce noise pollution all the time.
Yes, focused sound. There is even weapons research in this field. Pedestrian units will focus sound at the individual. A lidar equiped car can even know if the pedestrian is looking at the car, and only alert people who are not looking.
Taking this further, a standard could be developed where an earbud/headphone user would have their music interrupted for an alert. This would work for hearing aid users too.
Musk talks like he expects fewer highway deaths will be an acceptable tradeoff for more low speed pedestrian/cyclists deaths. But that won't be allowed to happen.
If Tesla do implement an audio alert, I reckon it will be at low speeds only and dependent on sensing an imminent collision. Otherwise can you imagine a world with vehicles all around you constantly beeping, farting, hooting, screeching, ringing, shouting or whatever?
Seriously though pedestrians and cyclists need to use their eyes more. The number of them you see in big cities wearing earbuds, or worse full on noise isolating headphones, walking and riding around the streets is getting ridiculous and in the UK we do have an issue with tourists arriving from a country where they are used to cars driving on the right and looking the wrong way when they cross a road.
WRT red flag laws, you beat me to it but when the technology is available, I was going to suggest a hologram projected out of the front of your car with someone waving a red flag. You could choose who waves the flag from a library of stored celebrity holograms or have your own likeness scanned in.
I think I'd like to have Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber warning pedestrians of my approach, although I realise some impressionable young girls might actually be attracted by it and I could end up running them over in the ensuing pandemonium, which would then skew the accident statistics and probably lead to the whole idea being scrapped once more.
Ames
Member
Record your own sound? Love it! I will go with gunshot sounds, nothing moves people out of the way faster...
In all honesty I've personally never had a problem, the car ac makes as much noise as any other car and its always on...
In all honesty I've personally never had a problem, the car ac makes as much noise as any other car and its always on...
Pluto
is a Planet
I find it strange that there's apparently a concern for pedestrian safety like this. I'm curious to read some real life examples of EV-pedestrian accidents; can someone find examples of pedestrian deaths involving electric vehicles traveling at low speeds? I tried but found nothing related to EVs.
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