Do our cars come with pedestrian alert?

I can say with assurance that the Prius v does, I hear it in drive thrus, when I am up against a wall with the window open. I am not as sure about the plug in, I have never seen one.

 

unfortunately.

if you haven't heard it, can we swap ears please?

 

I have to be listening for it to hear it, but I played music in the Sixties.

 

I'm not a good judge. My hearing is not acute. I have not noticed the sound when I drive. The manual says there is one that is linked to speed so it only sounds at low speeds. I can say that I have not heard anything like the sound on the clip in your link. Others on PC have complained about the sound. I just don't hear it.

 

what?

 

yes, plug in has it. engages at low speeds, eg., driving around parking lot, pulling into a driveway or garage. the whirring sound is unique (high tech in a Japanese sort of way) and surprises pedestrians imo, which I guess is the point

 

I can hear it, but it doesn't seem to do anything to alert pedestrians. I still sneak up on them in parking lots and have to tap my horn to get their attention. And these aren't even people with headphones on. But, people seem to be oblivious in parking lots no matter what. No one even seems to pay attention to cars with their reverse lights on about to back out of a parking space, why would they pay attention to some weird sound creeping up behind them?

 

People didn't even hear my TDIs when I drove thru parking lots.

 

Interesting article on the subject: Electric vehicle warning sounds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apparently some electric/hybrids like the volt have a manual on/off operation of the noise maker. Seems to defeat the purpose of the regulations or having the system at all, judging by the efforts some go through to disable the automatic system in the Prius.

In my experience most people do hear the noisemaker. Or maybe they just hear the tires rolling on the pavement which I find usually drowns out most other sounds the car makes. People who are paying attention sometimes do a double take wondering what the noise is. Of course there is the type, head down in their iphone walking down the middle of the street where even a dualie diesel pickup rolling up behind them wouldn't get their attention.

 

But it does put roadside wildlife on much stronger alert than did my previous Prius, making it harder to slowly creep up on them for better pictures.

 

All 2012 + Prius versions have the VPNS. I can't stand it so I just disconnect it.

 

no switch. there is a thread here with pics. you remove a few screws from the plastic wheel well liner in front of the front left tire. the plug is right there if you want to unplug it. no one has come up with switch instructions or changing the sound yet.

 

If someone figures a way to customize the noisemaker sound this is my vote for maximum attention grabbing annoyance:

how could you not hear that coming up behind you in a parking lot?

 

I have been looking to replace my sound with a jetsons car sound, but haven't figured out yet if it is Entune playing the sound, or if there is some sort of sound generator hiding in the engine bay (I know there is a separate speaker tho).

 

F8L posted his video of the sound at 2012 Prius Vehicle Proximity Notification System (VPNS) - Video | PriusChat.

 

Great Video. Explains why I'm not hearing it. PC people are fantastic.