mknox
Well-Known Member
Don't get me wrong, I do not advocate a noisemaker, but wouldn't this fact actually make people WANT noisemakers to help them avoid hitting pedestrians and all of the associated grief?
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Should EVs Make Artificial Sounds at Low Speeds?
- Thread starter Brent
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- Electric Vehicles
Don't get me wrong, I do not advocate a noisemaker, but wouldn't this fact actually make people WANT noisemakers to help them avoid hitting pedestrians and all of the associated grief?
Sunlight
Member
Haven't read all the posts so I may be repeating.
IF EVs have to make a noise (at low speeds), for me the least offensive would be the sound of crunching gravel relating to road speed up to 15-20mph. Like an estate driveway...
That would be organic and 'pleasant' although I dread to think what a whole slow moving traffic jam would sound like! Indeed with any sounds. Just imagine a whole line of cars whooping; whistling; making StarWars noises; computer sounds....
It would make traffic real aural hell.
IF EVs have to make a noise (at low speeds), for me the least offensive would be the sound of crunching gravel relating to road speed up to 15-20mph. Like an estate driveway...
That would be organic and 'pleasant' although I dread to think what a whole slow moving traffic jam would sound like! Indeed with any sounds. Just imagine a whole line of cars whooping; whistling; making StarWars noises; computer sounds....
It would make traffic real aural hell.
Sunlight
Member
Walked past an amusement arcade last night and imagined THAT cacophony sounding like a traffic jam!
If the government requires my car to make sound, I will comply. I will wire it to blare Sarah Palin speeches as I drive around San Francisco.
Do. Not. Provoke. Me.
NigelM
Recovering Member
Imagine a car driving on a hard-top road making crunching gravel noise, much more likely to cause confusion rather than alert pedestrians to traffic. What should visually impaired folks think?
Exactly.
RobStark
Well-Known Member
If the noise became a standard then people, particularly the vision impaired, would know crunching gravel is EV noise.
Maybe make the noise the default under 15 mph when the car starts but with the ability to turn it off for x amount of time before restarting to avoid the bumper to bumper highway hell.
Try getting every manufacturer in the world to agree on a single sound though. What about EVs from Canada who have a different sounds driving to US that mandates a different sound? They really don't need to make a sound. People just need to pay attention, cars should have a pedestrian horn, and any technologies that scan for people and alert the driver or stop the car maybe could be used.
mknox
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I can just imagine our cars putting around saying "Excuse me", "Pardon me", "Sorry" :tongue:
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
I agree that the cars should not make extra sounds, and that the driver is responsible for using his eyes to avoid people. I do also believe that cars should have a pedestrian horn.
NigelM
Recovering Member
NigelM
Recovering Member
ICEs under 15mph make almost no noise, shouldn't they then be mandated to make noise also? Bicycles should also be fitted with noise makers, and Segways, and motorized wheelchairs, and people carrying hot coffee....ok, that last one was maybe going too extreme but why not basically anything that could injure you if you step in front of it?
Okay, what about the "noisy" car drivers who don't pay attention to anything because they are staring at their crotch all the time texting, rolling through stop signs, etc.
Not to mention the pedestrians who are doing the same thing and not paying attention to where they are walking. They will walk right into the side of your car when you are stopped. I had a guy walk out in front of my car last year that freaked me out at the time but guess what....I was going slow enough to stop in time and the had his head buried in his mobile device and wasn't paying attention to anything else.
IMO it's just political B.S. which doesn't solve anything. There will always be situations where other noise is drowning out vehicle sounds anyway, especially when elevated noise levels of modified exhausts (and whatever else) continue to be allowed. It's just noise competing with noise. Good luck competing with the sound of leaf blowers. What if the gardener is out there at the time you are passing by. I still think it's the driver's responsibility to be aware.
I was at a stop light the other morning and a rent-a-truck driver almost wiped out the side of my car because he had his head buried in his mobile device and didn't move over fast enough into the left turn lane. Luckily I was scanning the rear view as I often do when stopped and luckily, I saw him coming, saw the alignment of his truck to my car, and had room to quickly move over to the right before it was too late.
IMO irresponsible human behavior (in sooooooo many ways) will continue to be the biggest threat, not quiet or silent vehicles.
Not to mention the pedestrians who are doing the same thing and not paying attention to where they are walking. They will walk right into the side of your car when you are stopped. I had a guy walk out in front of my car last year that freaked me out at the time but guess what....I was going slow enough to stop in time and the had his head buried in his mobile device and wasn't paying attention to anything else.
IMO it's just political B.S. which doesn't solve anything. There will always be situations where other noise is drowning out vehicle sounds anyway, especially when elevated noise levels of modified exhausts (and whatever else) continue to be allowed. It's just noise competing with noise. Good luck competing with the sound of leaf blowers. What if the gardener is out there at the time you are passing by. I still think it's the driver's responsibility to be aware.
I was at a stop light the other morning and a rent-a-truck driver almost wiped out the side of my car because he had his head buried in his mobile device and didn't move over fast enough into the left turn lane. Luckily I was scanning the rear view as I often do when stopped and luckily, I saw him coming, saw the alignment of his truck to my car, and had room to quickly move over to the right before it was too late.
IMO irresponsible human behavior (in sooooooo many ways) will continue to be the biggest threat, not quiet or silent vehicles.
RobStark
Well-Known Member
I can hear an ICEV behind me walking in a parking lot.
I can't hear a BEV moving behind me in a parking lot.
caddieo
Member
Looks like another slippery slope that can lead to ridiculous extremes, if taken.
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RobStark
Well-Known Member
I have not had an encounter in a parking lot where I could not hear an ICEV.
I guess it depends on your ears.
And I live in a nice part of West Los Angeles. Not somewhere where most people have old jalopies.
detlefo
Member
I have both a LEAF and a Model S. The LEAF does make a very low level sound below 15 mph. I have never found this offensive and cannot hear it in the cabin. I have frequently had the situation of people walking in front of the Tesla in parking lots, clueless that I am behind them. My only options are to hit the horn, way to loud, or turn up the music and open the window. Revving up the engine is clearly not an option. On a lighter note. The Teslas in the Extant series make a whining noise when they move. Clearly Hollywood sound engineers can't tolerate a totally silent car.:smile:
