*sigh* Toyota To Sell Noisemaker add-on for Prius

If they can make it sound like an F-18 Hornet taking off, I am right there converting dollars to yen to be the first one in my area.

 

I think I'll just "lay" on my horn when I'm driving around in parking lots... LOL

So much for loving a quiet vehicle. This is ridiculous!

 

Nice video on that link. I don't mind the high-tech noise it makes, and I like the on-off switch. I would use it in parking lots - sometime people are oblivious.

...but can you image the horrible noise of 50 of these noisemakers accelerating from a light?

 

Very interesting sound at a Yen converted price of $142.50 USD. Not exactly glasspack like is it?

 

I simply find this topic frustrating and counterproductive. Let be a bit more clear - not the PC Thread topic but the core idea for Hybrids to make noise.

So the objective is to alert pedestrians a vehicle is approaching, right? If that's the case most new cars should apply. The example in this video - a car is slowly approaching a pedestrian. I would have to believe that most any newer car driving about 25MPH or slower, closing in on a person slowly walking with their back turned - would not be heard by an average person. Especially with a bit of surrounding background sounds.

This said, why single out Hybrids?

This sounds like a typical Federal government intrusion by special interests. It's the driver's responsibility to not run into someone while driving. And if that someone happens to be in the area your are approaching - simply press that contraption in the middle of the steering wheel. But make it a small beep or you may see how rude some folks can be.

But, better than running around with a vehicle creating outside noises by an auto engineer mandated by our Government.

If they do, I'll reprogram mine to continually make the sound of a whoopie cushion and drive around NHTSA Headquarters in Washington.

 

Is there an option to have it yell "Get the h*** out of the street!" for the clueless people who wander off the sidewalk without looking?

 

TMC is a very nervous company these days. But if this were made mandatory, Prius sales would plummet and/or an aftermarket silencing procedure would arise.

Better, how about making it programmable with ringtones, including a real ice-cream truck tune? Or maybe stuff like "O I'm a lumberjack and ..." or "This parrot is ..." or "It's a small world after all ..."--mass insanity ensues.

As said above, thousands of noisemaker cars circling NHTSA HQ ...

Seriously, hybrids cannot be singled out for low-speed silence, and this "ain't gonna happen."

 

So let me get this straight they want us to PAY them NOT to have this installed right?!?? I love sneaking up on my co-workers in the office, scares the crap out of them. I had one co-worker walking blissfully unaware I was tailing behind him (safely two car lengths away and going under 5mph)...

I would rather spend the $$$ for new toys/accessories like the wood dash trim, HID, lit door sills, and digital fit floor mats instead of this BOGUS audio system.

Seriously I love how quiet my PRIUS, I would NEVER willing put this system on my car, this is just ludicrous!!

 

I think it's motivated by the blind. I remember hearing stories a few years about about how the blind were all PO'd because they couldn't hear the Prius.

 

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announces that, in line with its efforts to ensure an ever-safer traffic environment...
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I wonder if enveloping their cars with several layers of foam rubber is in the near future.

 

I worked for IBM in the group establishing standards for people with disabilities, blind in particular.. unfortunately we had a number of people injured because they could not hear the ev cars coming.

you think its simple! not.. remember there a lots of sounds all the time, and with an intersection there are bound to be other vehicles around. it is VERY hard to discern exactly what is going on..

we pushed very hard to get this minimum noise level added to the requirements to save pedestrian lives. These folks aren't asking for handouts, just the ability to execute their daily lives like the rest of us do..

Sam

 

So you are one of those guys. Prepare to duck.

:behindsofa:

Tom

 

Yes, but how did they know it was a Prius? Someone must have told them.



Tom

 

This would work well for parking lots, where people wander like lost sheep. Perhaps a whole menu of phrases, or the option to loop through all of the phrases:

"Wake up and look where you are going!"

"Hang up that phone and pay attention, you dolt!"

"Were you born stupid, or did you have a head injury?"

"Hey morons, your bus is leaving!"

"Bump, bump, bump, and another one bites the dust..."

and so on...

Tom

 

Since you have apparently been involved with this issue - can you perhaps explain to us here... how can adding some noise to an oncoming vehicle save pedestrian lives?

I can see this if a sight impaired person is in an intersection and a quiet new car is slowly approaching in their path. They may hear an approaching sound and...do what? Move left/right/faster/slower/stop? If the driver is inattentive, well a bad thing may happen. I just don't see how an added audible device (that can be inactivated by the driver) can add any substantial benefit for folks with disabilities better execute their lives.

And to the point of why EV cars??? Most new cars are extremely quiet. It would be very interesting to see the test results of the db level - a Prius, Corolla, Camry, and Sienna van. Approaches a microphone with db recorder at 20mph from 50 to zero feet. What's the db variance between each vehicle. I'd have to believe it's negligible. I'm all for safety, but unproven bells & whistles (literally) for EV may be a placebo.

Please don't think that I have little empathy for these people - I lost 1/2 of my eyesight 7 years ago.

 

Better still, whoever install this sound maker can enroll in a marketing scheme, where you get paid for playing commercials like: "If you can't hear this message clear enough, it's time to check out the "All You Can Hear" hearing-aid device. On-sale for $9,999,999.99 at your favourite convenience stores."

 

This is my real experience. I drove a Honda Civic, turning into a side street very slowly because there were people jay-walking. Eventually I had to completely stop to wait for them to pass. One guy, not visibly nor audibly disabled, walk right into my front bumber while talking into his cell-phone and banged his knee. He got mad and pounded my hood screaming at me asking why I didn't press the horn to warn him! Talk about blaming others for one's own fault!

I can see some kind of noise...better make it sound, or music or some nice-to-hear sound clips would help that guy! I don't know how loud this sound needs to be in order to alert him from his inattentiveness to the rest of the world while he immersed 100% of his attention to the cell-phone conversation. And in order to accomodate people like that guy, we may be annoying the rest of the "normal" people on the streets. Tough call.

 

I agree with deanfl. Let's fix the problem. Either drivers are negligent, or impaired pedestrians are crossing the street unsafely (without help, without a seeing eye dog, etc). I'm all for helping the disadvantaged but no one should have to have their car sound like a freak show UFO.