Japan Thinking of Making Quiet Hybrids Noisy

[cletus_slackjawd]

what's next? Require cars to transform into robots for help around the house for all the single mothers that have 3 kids or more without a father to help raise them?

 

[onsiteone]

What? I've owned a prius since 2005 and love how it can be quiet while on the electric motor. I'm sorry for sounding harsh but forcing a change to a car's design just to accommodate such a small portion of the population sounds dumb. Can't some sharp engineer come up with a solution that would require only the hearing impaired population to make the adjustment and not everyone else who drives a quiet vehicle? A compromise perhaps could be for the quiet car to emit a sound that only the service dog can detect...

 

[thejerk]

its not just hearing impaired people that have the problem, though. normal people have the issue of not paying attention to silent hybrids, too.

i say they just put a little speaker that emits the jetson's car noise.

 

[kingnoobe]

Wow what a bunch of idiots. Would it hurt you so bad if you car had to make a decent hum, that of which you couldn't hear inside the car anyways, and still be quieter then a normal car? This isn't something that has to be all or nothing. This is something that can easily be compromised for most people *not all because some will bitch just to bitch like you guys are doing also*. They could be 5$ clips like deer whistles that simply make a hum/whistle whatever not enough to disturb the neighbors, but enough were a blind person won't walk out in front of the car.

This is one saftey thing I say why not? As long as it doesn't jump the prices up as there is no reason it should. And isn't done to the extreme were it's louder then a normal car.

 

[bassetbuddy]

I was walking my dog one quiet afternoon and he was happily sniffing along the boulevard. As we were passing by a parked Prius it suddenly jumped away from the curb startling us both. At the time I thought there should be some auditory cue that the car was about to move. This is coming folks and I suggest rather than protesting the inevitable work to make the auditory cue as unobtrusive as possible.

 

[lmlim]

wouldn't noise from tires do the trick? i found tires noise quite loud already.

 

[bilbobaggins811]

Leave the silly cars alone for those still stupid enough to believe the global warming garbage let them have these as they are built. Saving money on gas makes sense but the debate on carbon emissions impact is far from proven. A market might exist for a device to help those with visual disabilities.

 

[MiniXO]

i think the visual impaired feels the danger is more of a psychological way than the physical way. imo psychological issues r much more annoying than the physical issues.

 

[onsiteone]

BTW I got a Prius not because it saves the earth, but because i'm a geek and like anything electronic and i love the gas mileage. If there was a 100% electric car that got me 100mpg but coughs up 100tons of co2 per hour, i'd still get it! 😀

Anyway, pick any mode of transportation that's quiet - say a bicycle. I wouldn't want to pay extra $$ to be required to make it emit a human audible sound (but a frequency that only hearing dogs can sense might be interesting). I really sympathize with those who have vision disabilities - or any minority group who has a disadvantage. But to inconvenience a mojority in order to convenience a minority... doesn't seem sensible. Unless hidden groups are getting hidden benefits somewhere. Drunk driving is a bigger issue I believe relating to automobiles and injures/kills more people. So why don't we require all car owners (or manufacturers) outfit all cars with a breathalyzer ignition lock? Sure it will inconvenience the majority who never drinks and drives, but as long as it helps that small minority who do... 😛

 

[Greg_77]

Their have been a lot of comments saying that blind people shouldn't cross streets or leave their home. Their also have been many comments saying we shouldn't convenience the minority to inconvenience the majority. Blind people are not the same as single parents or other similar minorities. They could have been born with the disability or could have gotten it later in life from a disease or an accident. For all of you ignorant people who say they shouldn't leave their house, how do you expect them to get food or get to their job? Thats right, blind people work. It's not like they can just stay in their house and do nothing. Not all of them have family who take care of them. A small noise really wouldn't inconvenience anyone, but for those who are hard of hearing or blind this could be life saving. Oh, and for all of you who say they should have a seeing eye dog, how would you feel if you had to rely on a dog to make sure you weren't run down by a car. Yea, you wouldn't feel so comfortable with that, would you?

 

[MattC]

As someone who has lived beside too many busy roads, my instinct is to keep the cars quiet! I hate noisy cars. Still, we don't have to go to any extreme to be able to help blind people - a low hum would do the trick. In the long run, though, we shouldn't be 'driving' our cars anyway, they should drive themselves - the only people who will really WANT to drive when their onboard computer can do it for them, more safely, are exactly the sort of people who I hate driving by on the road (the SUV drivers who like to drive a few feet behind me at 70, and pass me just because I have more than 10 feet between me and the car ahead of me). When cars are driving themselves, blind people can just use small devices that connect to the 'road network' (used by cars to communicate to prevent accidents and determine ideal routes) and make a noise that alerts them of the presence of a car.

 

[rodney_ws]

I would think a very soft (but distinct) sound would keep all parties happy.

 

[matchboxmatt]

That Honda Civic is so hot, holy cow.

 

[matchboxmatt]

I mean Insight. Yeah.

 

[matchboxmatt]

Whatever the hell is in the front.

 

[bin1127]

It's not just engine noise but tires on pavement makes a ton of noise as well. In a quiet morning both noises can be clearly heard. I think a visually impaired person who is used to hearing more clearly can make out an oncoming car. At busy intersections you would always follow the traffic lights. At a quiet intersection you can easily make out squealing tires.

Quiet engine is really preferable.

 

[Glorian]

The real reason they are going to do this is because they were mad at the VW commercial 😛

 

[doomsdaydave11]

I'm kind of torn- people who are nearly blind should NOT be driving, but hybrids are pretty quiet, so maybe they should install a sound making device.

 

[Guest]

Supposedly the plan is to develop some kind of device that would have a similar design as a trumpet to be placed in front of the grill of the car, with actuator buttons placed in the steering wheel.....oh wait a minute....

 

[molskin]

Instead of adding a small noise to these vehicles the innovative person could create a product for the blind person to detect vehicles. Or maybe a service... a blind person could pay someone like me to walk with them and I could just shout "HEY WATCH OUT THERE IS A CAR COMING! NO IT IS NOT SAFE TO WALK YET... OK IT IS SAFE TO WALK NOW..."