Prius with fake engine noise

thats the best sound they could come up with? not on my car

 

I read the article at NFB - NFB and there are serious issues with it's representations.

1. The dog was leading the blind person, so when the dog stopped so did the blind person (as they are taught to do). So how credible is the statement by the blind person "Half an inch and it would have hit us"?
Can blind people sense a half inch or did the dog tell him? Did the dog almost miss the car too, even though he/she could see?
Could this have happened in a yet louder car?

2. It was noted that "Blind pedestrians using a guide dog or cane are largely dependent on the sounds of traffic to cross streets safely."
Blind pedestrians using a guide dog are largely dependent on the DOG! Ask any user of such a dog.
If a blind pedestrian is using only a cane and hearing to cross a street, the power of avoidance lies heavily in the favor of the car driver, not the pedestrian. The pedestrian's avoidance skills are very limited, mostly they just STOP. (they don't dive, jump, leap, dash, or spring out of the way.)

3. Blind pedestrians are in many cases, not totally blacked out from vision.
Lots can see shapes, albeit blurry, some see things using their peripherial vision. I had a blind friend and he told me he wasn't totally completely blind but still he used the white cane with red tip. He said dogs were for those with worse vision then himself.

4. It's stated that "The group says the sound should be loud enough to be heard over the din of other ambient noise." The ambient noise level of a particular road is the sound pressure level at that spot, which includes cars, people talking, and other normal sounds (it might even include construction noises). So the Prius is supposed to be heard above this din?? I can see the ban of the Electric car already starting --"Shut that thing OFF already" yelll people from their bedroom windows.

5. It is stated "a device built into the axle that could make a sound as the wheels rotate", which begs the question, how much noise does a modern car make as it travels down the road? I know the sound level will vary on the state and size of the engine, the exhaust sounds, and the noise level of the tires but we need real numbers on the noise level as heard next to the car and as heard within a reasonable distance that a blind person might be walking by. If the Prius engine turns on, does that mean the artificial sound stops too?

6. Statement "Quiet cars pose a problem for not only those with limited vision, says the NFB's Debbie Stein, but also for sighted pedestrians, cyclists and the elderly who rely on sound to gauge the position and speed of cars."
I'm particularly sorry I'm not gifted like other people, like yourself perhaps, who can use sound as a triangulating sonar device to gauge the actual position and use the doppler effect to judge the speed of a car. My ears are simple cave man ears and for that I'm sorry. (What depths of stupidity do thise NFB people dive into in order to make a sentence?")

7. "Police reports often don't record what kind of automobile caused a pedestrian-vehicle collision, and the insurance industry says it doesn't have those figures." So the police report doesn't record what vehicle brand, model and year? So when the report says "What hit the pedestrian?" The report merely says "Uhh. ..Car"
I support a sheriff's department as their IT tech, I've seen those reports, they have year, make, model, color, etc as data entry fields into which they write their reports. The insurance companies can easily get their computers to perform a report on the Prius and accidents it's been involved in.

8. Here's a wonderful statement ""We want to get ahead of this and not have to wait until five blind people end up seriously hurt or dead," says Gary Wunder, who is on the NFB's Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety. (bold mine). What about the first through fourth blind person? Come on, is report for REAL?, it's worse than swiss cheese.

This post is taking too much time from my lunch. It's not worth my time picking out all the inconsistencies which are more than the ones I've posted here.
Either way, the sound is horrible and the students need look for a more dignified career, instead of designing a bad solution looking for a problem.

ZC1

 

LOL

ZC1

 

I'd replace my 10" sub with a pair of 15s, and then blast DragonForce. People will hear and feel me coming.

 

We have been acclimated to noisy, poorly designed and inefficient ICEs for so long, it is foreign to be around relatively silent machines. I don't hear calls for noisemakers on bicycles (increasingly important vehicles for commuting). People need to look and tune up their peripheral vision.

 

You open-sourcers. I suppose the constant crashing of your MySql database/PHP server was somehow all Microsoft's fault, too.

You had a bug with your open sores, oops, I mean open source app. Deal with it like a man.

 

Only if my Prius can sound either like George Jetson's hover-car or a TIE fighter.

 

I love how the news keeps coming back to that kid who rode his bike out directly in front of a car which happened to be a Prius. I've got news for you, if you don't look before you jaywalk, you just might get hit by a car! I hope the Prius owner got reimbursed for the damage the kid did to his car.

What a absolute and complete joke.

... Brad

 

Does anyone else think that this is really a non-issue anyway?

For one thing, the Prius generates tire noise when rolling along on electricity, and for another thing, you're usually only quiet when you're travelling at low speeds or at a stop or in other words, when you really aren't posing much of a risk to pedestrians.

The kid who for some idiotic reason made national news after turning in front of a hybrid (I wonder how many kids were hit by non-hybrids that day) ended up getting scraped knees. Scraped knees! And that was national news.

There's not one known case of a hybrid hitting a blind pedestrian, but legislators are ready to waste millions researching the "problem" and may add cost and annoyance to hybrid car owners.

 

Amazing that an industry that spent decades making vehicles quiet now wants to make them loud. This is insane! Next thing you know they will require noise generators on bicycles.

Why do we allow the needs of the few to control the needs of the many? Whatever happened to majority wins? I'm all for making life easier for people but come on, just stop the madness!

 

maybe i should go back to bed.. but.. people like this should be shot.

if by some stupid misguided chance that system makes it to cars.. i'm ripping it out.

then i'm looking for the person who designed it so i can rip something off them too....

 

Oh no, its an issue. But its completely being blown out of all proportion.

Yes, it is possible that it is harder for a blind person to identify a Prius or an electric vehicle. But its a completely ludicrous solution to make sure the Prius is louder than all other ambient noise.

A better solution would be for everyone to be aware of the difficulty and take extra care in those infrequent situations where a blind person is crossing the street. No extra legislation needed.

I'm actually curious what might happen if the legislators don't come to their senses. What if they do require a noise maker?

Will it have to be retrofitted to the cars already sold or will it only be new vehicles?

Will it apply to all "quiet" vehicles or just hybrids and electrics?

How will they determine the minimum noise level?

Can we choose what noise we want it to make, or will that be legislated too?

Who will be the first person on PriusChat to hack it so it can be turned on or off at will? (If I do it first, I promise to provide a writeup with full instructions)

How the hell do they expect that it will be enforced? Will all traffic police be carrying a sound meter? Will the police be confused when I turn the noise back on as I am pulled over?

 

My future Mod .. disconnect that caulk board noise from those stupid speakers..!!! Yikes !!!

 

Please don't bring this anti "quiet car pro American rattle trap" legislation to Australia. Please.
Will it be needed on Rolls Royce's and other cars known for being silent? Will exhaust pipes need to face forward?

I like the idea of a wooden stick dragging under the car to make noise. Not.

 

Don't you have blind people in Australia? Aren't you willing to protect them? What kind of heartless b@stard are you anyway? :madgrin: :evil:

 

No that isn't it, all our cars here are really really quiet. :rofl:

 

If some law is enacted, it will be just as unenforcible as the handheld cellphone-while-driving prohibition here. Everybody still does it. So many people will disconnect it that the police will not be able to give every car a ticket. Besides, how will the police know it's disconnected?? They'll connect a microphone to their radar guns???

 

Unfortunately, the reason this legislation could actually become a reality is that none of the legislators will want to vote against it because it isn't very politically correct to make the argument that we should be willing to sacrifice a few blind people to have quiet cars. Never mind that there hasn't be any incidents yet, you don't want to be running for office and have your opponent point out that you hate blind people.

I'm not going to worry too much about it; I can't conceive of a system that wouldn't be trivial to disable. I also think it would be impossible to enforce a minimum sound level. The police just don't have the resources to do that.

 

This is such a load of poo. So let me get this straight I have to put a noise maker on my Prius but you can let me use unsafe, drugs, vaccines, plastics, food (GMO), etc...

I guess we need a big $$ quiet car lobby in DC.:spider: Or maybe if Toyota just allowed them to be made in China they would get a pass.

 

No way. It sounds like there's something wrong with the car. If my car made a noise like that, I'd take it in to the shop.

By the way, how come blind people don't have a problem with bicycles? Do we need to stick baseball cards in the spokes again?

Why does the human race get more and more stupid? When will it end?