Ulmo
Active Member
Beeps are never the right answer.Somewhere I saw it proven that people cannot triangulate on the classic "backup beeper" sound source nearly as well as some kind of white noise (grey noise, some kind of hiss noise) bursts at the same sound pressure.. Blindfolded people had little trouble pointing directly at the source. ... and the beauty of it was this noise does not carry as annoyingly far as backup beeper sounds do, but are effective within the "you're about to be hit range".. The overall noise din of the city would be less if all heavy equipment and trucks moved to this new noise.
I'd be OK if my quiet car made these sounds at low speeds.
Most construction workers are innoculated against beeps. A beep could be right over them and they would not hear it. The louder the beep, the more they ignore it (because the louder the beeps are, the more omnipresent they are), and the more impossible it is to know where it is coming from. Often on a construction site, you hear one omnidirectional loud screeching continuous constant beep from every direction, as 30 machines all make the same noise. You literally won't survive if you cannot completely ignore the beeps, because you would not do your work, you would get fired, and you would lose your house.