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Discuss: Should Electric Vehicles Emit Some Kind Of Noise For Safety? |
6 Comments |
| By Michael d'Estries in Green Living, Hybrids | May 6, 2007 | ||
I had my first hybrid scare the hell out of me the other day. The road I live on is chock full of student parking with cars lining either side. I’ve gotten used to walking by this line of vehicles on my way to work each day. Anyways, while walking home this past week, a hybrid car suddenly just moved right next to me. I had absolutely no idea the thing was on or had someone inside. It just as quietly pulled away and accelerated. It spooked me for a moment.
Now, this is minor. I’ve heard of people actually getting hit by hybrids because they were unaware of their presence. Jay Leno recently commented that his wife enjoys their early 20th century electric car because deer won’t run away when they approach them in the Malibu Hills. Now, what happens when we’ve got a fair amount of all-electric cars on the road in the next decade all doing 35-65mph. If creatures don’t know they’re coming, will there be more accidents? If people can’t hear them, will there be more injuries?
Now, I’m the last person to want to institute more noise on this world. I was just thinking the other day how absolutely ridiculous it is that even in the middle of the country, I can still hear some kind of noise pollution. It’s becoming increasingly evident that a large portion of the world’s population will never experience true natural sound. Can you remember the last time it was absolutely quiet outside?
Still, we’ll have to contend with very quiet vehicles in the next 10 years. Should there be technology installed to make a car emit some kind of noise while traveling under 35mph? Should there be artificial noise in general? Let us know what you think!
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Doug Korthof said,
Heck, we’ve been driving all-electric for 8 years, over 500,000 miles in Honda EV-plus, 1997 and 1999 EV1, Ranger-EV and Toyota RAV4-EV and NEVER had a problem with people not hearing it. One reason: road noise from the tires is about that of a quiet Toyota Camry; another is that people don’t generally depend on sound, they look first!
But if you’re worried, just crank up the Rock ‘n’ Roll, Little Richard, Creedence or the Rolling Stones will keep ‘em jumpin’!
If all else fails, roll on with Angus and AC-DC or GnR!
kent beuchert said,
I thought that I had heard everything when I heard that some loon was worrying about people being at risk because
electric cars are silent. Unfortunately, these worrywarts don’t know what they’re talking about. Many small cars today are so silent that you can’t hear anything but their tires rolling on the pavement. My dentist mentioned this 15 years ago, when the Japanese cars had acheived
quality construction and were typically 4 cylinder jobs.
Anyone who uses sound to determine whether it’s safe to cross a street is probably dead at this point.
Jeff Schroeder said,
I am an Orientation & Mobility instructor. The blind use traffic sounds for making street crossings. These new vehicles are very hard to hear and a great problem for the blind. Also as we age hearing and vision can decrease so a quiet car can create problems for all of us, Those of us who drive need to be aware. I will also make a point here that a person with a “white” cane has the right away in all 50 states.
Marshall Brown said,
Perhaps we should all take a cue from the 9 and 10 year old boys in my neighborhood who clothespin cards to their bicycle spokes to make their bikes sound like little engines chugging. If the tires on EV cars aren’t loud enough to hear them approaching, perhaps studded tires would help. I was actually hit by an electric car starting to pull out of a parallel parking spot once, however not seriously hurt. The problem of not realizing these vehicles are moving because of lack of noise or because of their small size remains a very real concern.
Dan Peeling said,
There are LED bulbs for automobiles that produce an audible chirp when activated as the car is placed into reverse which aids in a potential hazard recognition and “White” cane carrying individuals are not exclusively privileged to the right of way. All vehicles must yield to pedestrians as they are granted the right to cross.
Let us not forget that it is a privilege to drive on the nations roadways which is governed by each state for the people.
Thalass said,
I agree that in the city, or a parking lot, this could be a pretty big problem. Though eventually the masses will adjust and it will become less of a concern. But then for the blind the problem won’t go away.
I think this is an opportunity for all us geeks to have cars that sound like something from the Jetsons! haha