"Quiet" cars making noise again...

not a fan of noise, but i guess it makes more sense to bell the quiets instead of just the hybrids.

 

wait a second, 'not apply to traditional internal combustion engine cars'? i thought we already had it for hybrids and ev's? nhtsa is nutsa.

 

No, this is NHTSA finally producing the rules to implement the law passed in 2010. The noisemakers on the 2012 Prii and any other cars were added early, without waiting for the bureaucracy to complete its full cycle.

 

Days after buying my Prius I was waiting for a soccer-playing boy to move out of the way on my parkinglot.
I thought for a moment he was an nice person as he kept playing. Then it dawned on me he simply didn't hear me coming...

So as insane as this legislation may appear, I can see where it is coming from. And I know how much I rely on my ears when riding my bicycle.
I would be under a car within a week if all cars were as silent as a Prius in EV mode...

 

This is the NHTSA source link:
U.S. Department of Transportation Proposes New Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Folks are just rolling over and going along with all the other Starlings flying though the sky in sync, who without any statistical data or thought - just reason that, "oh well, I guess it's for the best".

Consider from the Plugin Cars web site:

Sound Alert System Issue for Hybrids and EVs Reaches New Level of Absurdity | PluginCars.com
P.C.'s EVNut makes comments after the article and pretty much sums up why noise rules for Plug-In's equals absurdity.

One of the reasons this folly continues forward is because there's a knee jerk (emphasis mine) reaction that laws enacted to "help" disabled are automatically good.

 

The HyCam I had sure didnt need it, I could hear that car 400' away when it was slowing down.

I say let Darwin have a chance, make for a better world.

 

why not measure the decibels of ice cars? some are as or more quiet than pri.

 

I had a Hyundai Veracruz that was so quiet, we didnt know if it was running or not.

 

exactly. my friends mom had a suburu 40 years ago that you couldn't hear if you put your ear to the hood.

 

with literally millions of cars as quiet as plugins and with plugins being WAY less than 1 per cent of all quiet cars - - it begs the question of WHY isn"t the transportation board going after the 99 per cent?

SGH-I717R ? 2

 

Jets in the air don't get to use noise as a locating tool for other aircraft?

When walking in a crowd of people we all have to look to prevent collisions with other pedestrians ?

Bicycles don't make noise so pedestrians and other bicycles can know they are coming?

Golf carts? Joggers?

We finally get a quiet car and they want to ruin it?

I can maybe see an option to use in parking lots by choice, but I don't want my car making racket every time I come to a red light?

Today's cars have such good mufflers you can't hear them anyway.
Are they going to make ev's noisier than cars with engines?



Alan.. Sent with Tapatalk 2

 

I worked against this legislation because the math never made sense. Even today, this is the risk:

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation Proposes New Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

So here are their most recent traffic statistics from remarks by David Strickland, Administrator, NHTSA, Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Event, Durham, North Carolina, November 14, 2012:

Source: Strickland-NC_Ped_Event_10302012.pdf

I was a close observer of what happened to pass this law:

• National Federation of the Blind were primary advocates
• The Automotive Alliance under Dave McCurdy led the legislative effort
• NHTSA staff provided at least two 'statistical' analysis that had misleading (easily misquoted) phrases such as 'double the risk' that could be quoted out of context (and were) by politicians including Sen. Kerry

Facts and data, no form of credible risk analysis, was involved in this 'railroaded' legislation. Time has not improved the data nor the likely results.

I strongly suspect this was the last, stealth effort by GM and Chyrsler to throw salt in the face of the Prius and all hybrids. Getting a law passed to force noise makers on hybrids . . . with the collusion of a political appointee in the NHTSA . . . I don't have hard evidence but sometimes, you don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.

As a 'safety issue,' this is totally bogus and like the problem of the cops going after an innocent suspect, it means the serial killer is free to kill again and again. But there may be an unintended consequence.

Calling attention to hybrids may actually lead to more hybrid sales. Every time the 'chimes' are heard, it means someone is saving gas.

Bob Wilson

 

If I am forced to put a noise maker on my Hybrid, I dont want no stinkin bells, Make it sound like a Muscle Car! VROOOMM

 

As long as the regulation does not forbid it, put a second noise maker that says:

• 52 MPG<boing>52 MPG<boing>

Gasoline prices might plateau but I suspect outages and spikes are what we'll continue to see until we finally burn it all up.

Bob Wilson

 

Well now that John Kerry has saved the population from those killer EVs and Hybrid vehicles, he has plenty of time to take on the open pipe crowd. Do they have any data on the effectiveness of the new nosemakers when there is an open piped Harley in the area or a buzz bomb car with loud banging music?

 

This is absolutely insane and stupid. This legislation is drawn up on the backs of emotional stories like "well what if someone doesn't hear it coming and gets hit and dies". The only way to win this battle is to come up w/ an emotional story for our side.

I hate these stupid regs. This is almost as stupid as the federal reg that limits ebike speeds to 20mph (but not quite). Yes its true, ebikes are regulated by the fed not to exceed 20mph (I can go faster than that on a regular bike).

The only good thing about this is, me and Hill actually agree about something (lol)

 

Perhaps we should turn to the military for their research in sound weapons, a noisemaker could be mounted that causes instant nausea, a great defender against those who could enter our path. A helpless blind person might say "is that a Prius?", puke, "yes, yes, that is a Prius", "I better watch out!" Safety first ya know.

 

It is one of the reasons I council "do not disconnect the noise maker." Prius are involved in fatal pedestrian, bicycle, and motor cycle accidents. The perfect story is "the Prius was stopped, sounding the pedestrian warning, after hitting the pedestrian/bicycle/motor cycle."

We have a very small rate of Prius-pedestrian accidents normally, about half the rate of the USA fleet. So if there is a fatal accident, make sure the news can report "and the pedestrian warning was sounding."

It may take a decade or more before a statistically significant sample occurs but I suspect there will be a detectable pattern:

1. Early adopters - know about the quiet risks so we drive carefully to avoid or minimize the risk.
2. Post-noise maker - there is a false sense of "we don't have to worry, the pedestrian will get out of the way." Also, more 'just a car' drivers who don't really study the Prius like we do.

Winston Churchill once said,"You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing . . . after they have tried all of the others."

Bob Wilson

 

Darwin, let him do what needs to be done. One of the reasons I moved out of the city was to get away from A, noise, B, filth, and C stupid people.

Unfortunately 2 out of 3 are still out here, every so often some moho with ghetto speakers comes boomin past the house, or the morons on bikes who dont stop at the stop sign in groups and just blow through, or ride 4-5 abreast across the middle of the road. I like my car being quiet, I LOVE driving 55 on EV, no sound other than the radio.