What the F... they could hear it from 11 feet away.. good enough!

survival of the fittest people...

Right! How are we supposed to rack-up points if they hear us coming???

I ran a similar test.

Driving in my Prius in EV mode, I was able to hear a pedestrian talking on their cell phone from 50 feet away. Driving in a non-hybrid with the ICE running, I couldn't hear the pedestrian talking on their cell phone until they started shouting after I hit them.

Therefore, in the interest of protecting the drivers of noisy non-hybrid vehicles, I think all pedestrians should be required to wear noise making devices. We need to have congress pass a bill to investigate the appropriate noise level that all pedestrians should emit to ensure that drivers of non-hybrids know they are there.

Certainly there are a lot more pedestrians than there are Prius, so I think the pedestrian study and noise maker distribution should be given priority over the Prius study.

i cant believe this... they should make sounds on bicycles too then :blah:

I would carry a chip in car that set off an alarm the blind person carried if it would appease Deborah Kent Stein of the National Federation of the Blind

Too funny these comments

I had no idea the blind would be playing to such a tough crowd, lol.

I had a blind person look up as I drove past them just the other day.
One day all cars will be this quiet, get used to it.

You know Danny, I think you are on to something. For years there have been accidents between automobiles and pedestrians. The next time I have an accident, I'm going to blame it on the pedestrian - I didn't hear him coming...

Thanks,

Keith

I know this may be uncomfortable and perhaps even a little awkward, but... nobody has mentioned the group that this really affects... those among us that are deaf.

The deaf people that I have met actually have a heightened sense of awareness. Because they cannot hear loud OR quiet vehicles, they use their eyes and look around a lot more. Whether you can hear or not, any moving vehicle can be deadly.

Keith

Blind people are less likely to be injured or killed than a sighted pedestrian. No blind pedestrian has been killed by a hybrid car. It's a solution for a non-existent problem. But that doesn't mean logic will triumph over sympathy. Who could be against protecting the blind?

It's all a quiet storm in a tea cup. Maybe we should put the cone of silence on the prius, that has to help.

For years people have complained about traffic noise. Just when there might actually be a significant reduction in the noise level people have to go and ruin it.

Oh well, I saw a device on one of those "pimp my ride" type shows that ties to computer and outputs any of several hundred sounds to an external sub woofer. When the throttle is pressed it makes your car sound like anything you want. Porche, Ferrari, Harley etc... I will just have to get one of those, turn it up loud, and make sure I annoy everyone with it. Along with a bumper sticker that say something like "Sound Effect Courtesy of the National Federation of the Blind".

G

I wonder what they would have the Prius sound like? Just another car? Engine noise? Cow bell? Darth Vader breathing? Maybe we could hand an itty-bitty wind chime from the antena?

If my Prius had to make noise, I'd want it to sound like an uncorked F430 Scuderia. If they weren't deaf before, well.....

1:45 in.
[ame=http://youtube.com/watch?v=Um6GCzKQudg]YouTube - F430 Scuderia Tiff Needell Fifth Gear[/ame]

How about a really long lance on top of the prius so you can poke the blind person and they know to jump out of the way... although there could potentially be issues with this ka-bob comes to mind...

This is probably a really stupid question, but how does whether a Prius makes noise or not affect the deaf? You can't hear it anyway...



(Before you think I'm being insensitive, please know that I am deaf in one ear. I still don't get it though... It's an honest question.)

I think the point was that if we are going to make quiet cars louder maybe we should put flashing lights on all cars, bikes etc to make them more visible to the deaf.

G

How about one of those big sub-woofers that take up the entire rear hatch area.
That big bass thumping should let them know you are coming. Blind, deaf, whatever...they'll notice.:drum: