Do you think that electric cars should be equipped with some sort of noise-maker, to alert pedestrians to their presence?
I’ve only encountered electric cars twice (that I know of.) Both times I was a pedestrian getting ready to cross a parking lot. I looked left then right, and about jumped out of my skin because there was a car slipping along making NO noise, and I had almost stepped in front of it.
We count on our ears a lot. It’s something I actively teach my kids and grandkids about crossing streets safely. Use your eyes and your ears. Listen for cars that may be coming up behind you, or beside you.
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50 Answers
I absolutely do. I have had similar experiences. I’m not asking that they mimic a real engine. Maybe something simple like a cats purr.
I think the pilots who ride them should sing show tunes when approaching unsuspecting pedestrians
That & a good old fashioned parping horn, one that shoots the hat off your head
What about a soothing noise, @DoNotKnowMuch? It doesn’t have to be a blaring noise. Just a noise to let you know they’re there.
@DoNotKnowMuch :: I don’t drive. I walk, bike, skateboard everywhere. Trust me. When you are a pedestrian a little bit of audio warning can save your bacon.
If every driver was paying attention this wouldn’t be a issue. But unfortunately that isn’t the case.
I would be totally fine with some faint noise only when the car was going between 0 and 15 MPH. Just enough to let me know you are there at a crosswalk.
No, I don’t. Cars are pretty quiet now anyway, and I agree with @DoNotKnowMuch that I hate noise pollution. A lot of people walk around with earbuds in their ears anyway—are we going to ban that?
I would think the sound of screaming pedestrians would be enough to let you know an electric car was running around running people over.
^^Okay, that made me laugh.
Of course not. regulation is evil socialism
This isn’t a new issue, and some hybrids/EVs have such a feature for that reason, but I do not understand why. Many gas-burning cars are nearly silent while the motor controllers on many EVs actually make rather distinctive sounds. Many pedestrians are using earbuds and won’t hear anything much quieter than a small-block with glass-packs.
Also, I generally don’t go anywhere a vehicle may potentially go without visually verifying the positions of all vehicles within a fair distance of me; a lot of places cars can be are close enough to other noisemakers that most cars with intact factory exhaust systems get drowned out in the ocean of noise. And if I can’t see or hear anything, I do not assume it’s clear.
My opinion is that if people can work in a warehouse that uses electric forklifts without an accident every twelve minutes, people can swivel their heads a bit more when they are near anywhere where there may be any form of traffic. If you can’t, that’s natural selection.
There is only one correct answer. They should sound like Jetsons cars.
I have a hybrid car (Toyota Prius), and I often think about this matter. I love getting 50 mpg, but I’m not so fond of sneaking up on pedestrians.
If a pedestrian goes about with ear buds on, walking out in traffic or wherever hearing might be needed, like driving a car, that’s their stupidity. Their own fault.
I don’t wear earbuds for exactly this reason.
Fucking hell. this is like the GMO debate with more stupid.
Same here. Don’t text or talk on the phone for the same reason. Maybe if it was a handsfree, tied into the car, which my husband has, but I’ve never used it. I’d have to try it in a safe area, see how much it distracts me.
My car is only a year old, so it’s still pretty quiet (not electric and silent, but fairly quiet). When I’m approaching pedestrians in a parking lot and their backs are to me, I don’t want to honk at them but I do wish to let them know I’m approaching, both so they might be so kind as to move out of my way and also so when I pass, they don’t suddenly decide to switch directions and walk right out in front of my car. Honking seems to rude and abrupt, but I wish I could notify them in a kind way, “hello, pay attention, car is approaching.”
Yes. And that topic was covered on the national news some time back.
Deaf people walk around all the time without bumping into everything or getting run over by cars. You can too.
Don’t get me wrong – while I think it’s understandable that people would want to make it safer for pedestrians by having cars that announce their arrival via sound, I just don’t support it. Noise pollution is a real concern of mine. While many people have just accepted that there is a constant noise of cars everywhere, I’d like to think that this is merely a temporary thing that can be overcome by technology. If electric vehicles can free us from constant auto noise, then I welcome the silence. The quieter the better.
This doesn’t mean that we can’t simultaneously work on making pedestrian and bicycle travel safer. It just means that we probably shouldn’t treat progress as a step back and try to “fix” it.
I’m also somewhat confused about how practical adding noise to an electric car would actually be. As someone who spent many years living in the city and walking to work in Boston, I can’t imagine a scenario in which a silent car would have posed a risk to me.
@ARE_you_kidding_me Deaf people and blind people develop their other senses to become hyper. They are forced to. They can’t turn their deafness or blindness off and on.
Hearing and seeing people don’t develop those other senses to that same degree by having things happening intermittently and rarely.
@DoNotKnowMuch Perhaps you’ll have experience with one one of these days.
@Dutchess_III: ”@DoNotKnowMuch Perhaps you’ll have experience with one one of these days.”
My position on this isn’t dependent on not having had close encounters with electric vehicles as a pedestrian. I’ve had plenty of close encounters with bicyclists in the city, but in no way would want them to be noisy. And I’ve had plenty of situations where I couldn’t hear small cars because I was in the city with loud trucks and motorcycles (making the smaller cars essentially silent).
I think that problem of noise pollution is so great that we need to find a solution to pedestrian safety that doesn’t involve rolling back the clock and breaking one of the best features of this new technology.
God no.
I dream of a time when our cities are much less noisy. People need to look both ways before crossing the street.
Many people have hearing or vision impairment. So yes, they need to have some noise. It doesn’t need to be horribly loud or jarring, just something to alert pedestrians.
As much as I love quiet, I do think it’s dangerous not having the noise warning of a nearby car. If it made enough noise to be heard by people in very close proximity it might be a good idea. An alternative option is to have a regular horn and a different sound available for the driver to use in less urgent situations to just let people know of their presence. The horn needs to be heard by people inside of a car. The car noise we are talking about is for pedestrians primarily. The problem with the secondary “horn” is it would only be used when a driver is aware of the pedestrians.
People like my husband like car noise. He is a car guy and he likes hearing the different engines. He knows the Ferrari on TV doesn’t sound like that. Meaning, whatever noise the editors chose was incorrect.
I saw one show that talked about this very topic where people testing electric cars could try the cars with different noises. It was for the driver more than the people around or near the car.
One last thing, what about in the country? Do animals rely on sounds more than anything? Does a rabbit or bird run from the road from the approaching sound? Or, do they use visual cues?
Noooo. Can you imagine how lovely the absence of all car noise would be? Let’s not ruin this. I’m sure our best and brightest can come up with some other ideas, maybe along the lines of smart cities?
Like roads lighting up as cars approach, or becoming hot to the touch. Maybe cars could be preceded by a mist of lavender-scented air…you know, something cheap and practical.
People like my husband like car noise.
Car companies put A LOT of work into car noise.
‘Nissan Motor Co. spent years developing the Leaf’s unique sound, which some listeners have described as a gentler version of an airplane taking off or the approach of a spaceship in a sci-fi movie.‘g
Here’s a story about a car audio system – essentially your car “feels” sporty because of its audio special effects. – [The Harmon] HALOsonic system basically works like a sound effects generator, accentuating everything from engine noise to the sound a door makes when it closes.
Here’s an aftermarket kit – the VroomBox monitors your engine’s RPM and load constantly, so when you step on the gas or shift gears, your new engine sound follows perfectly. Through speakers mounted under the car, the sound of the engine will be heard loud and clear by those around you.
@DoNotKnowMuch….you can’t compare bikes to cars, any more than you can compare house cats to lions.
I ask again, why couldn’t they invent a noise that’s gentle and soothing? A waterfall, or birds singing?
@Dutchess_III: “I ask again, why couldn’t they invent a noise that’s gentle and soothing? A waterfall, or birds singing?”
For me, the elimination of noise pollution outweighs any potential safety concerns. 3500-pound sound machines driving around do not == silence. It’s just more noise pollution.
You guys….seriously? ”Sound machine” @DoNotKnowMuch? You thinking of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida blasting out of speakers at full blast? Maybe hip hop rattling the store fronts?
There should be enough tech in a car these days for some gentle proximity sound. Not constant, but just when in high pedestrian areas. It has been a problem here for a long time. We have more electric cars per capita than any other country. I have learned to listen for them but their sound gets lost in the city. I can here them on my road walking to the bus stop.
You probably hear them about the time they’re pulling alongside of you. You can hear the gravel crunching.
“You probably hear them about the time they’re pulling alongside of you. You can hear the gravel crunching.”
You mean most people are that deaf?
I’m seriously asking; I don’t know how it is for other people.
I think the general public would learn to stop depending on their ears in a very short amount of time. We do need to worry about those with vision impairments, but I’m hoping they would not rely purely on sound in high-traffic areas anyway. That sounds very dangerous. I see many people with vision problems around, and they all seem to exclusively use the traffic lights (which are equipped with a sound system they can activate). If the price of less noise is installing more traffic lights, I’m all for it. I think we tend to underestimate to what extent the constant noise harms us.
@jerv as I mentioned I have turned to cross a parking lot, glancing around for cars, and was startled when there was a car rolling almost right beside me. I didn’t hear it coming, and I am far from deaf. Of course, I can’t tell you want other noises there were at the time, other cars rolling, people talking, carts chattering. I’m sure that in a perfectly silent world, with just you and the car in it, and you had nothing else to factor in, one could hear it earlier.
@longgone I don’t think anyone relies purely on sound. They rely on sound in addition to their other senses. I taught my kids to listen for cars coming up behind them if they’re walking along the sidewalk. Look AND listen.
Traffic lights are only in business areas, not residential areas, or parking lots.
In a relatively quiet environment, the prominent sound I hear is that made by the tires as they roll along the pavement, and not that of an engine.
In a noisy environment, it seems that a sonic warning system would have to be louder or substantially different than the ambient noise, and that ambience could include the warning sounds of other vehicles, which might result in a monophonic wall of indistinguishable cacophony.
For people who are visually and hearing impaired, perhaps a wearable warning device that detected significantly large moving objects would be more practical than electric vehicles constantly or indiscriminately generating extra noise.
@Dutchess_III I hear too much as is. I probably look around more than most people do as a result; any sound I can pin a location on is one less sound I need to process. It’s also possible that I am so used to dealing with electric vehicles (many warehouses use electric forklifts) that I just can’t see the problem because I’m blinded by personal experience.
@Dutchess_III I’m talking about those with vision impairments, they wouldn’t be able to look. Over here, there are absolutely traffic lights around in residential areas. Good point about the parking lots. These are extremely dangerous already, I’d guess, as cars all around would make listening for a specific (advancing) one very difficult.
Alright @jerv, then I guess the answer is, “Yes. Compared to you most people are that deaf.” I used to be able to hear the hidden security cameras in a department store.
Well, I have never experienced traffic lights in any residential neighborhood I’ve ever been in. Just school zones and random stop signs.
I agree. Parking lots are dangerous period. People just drive like they flat forgot all the rules of driving, and they have the right of way no matter what.
@Dutchess_III “I ask again, why couldn’t they invent a noise that’s gentle and soothing? A waterfall, or birds singing?”
If you agree to strap a boom box to your ass with a loop of a waterfall or a bird singing for 12 hours per day, we can talk. Until then, don’t propose noise pollution generating solutions that affect other people.
Who said anything about a boom box? Or making noise 12 hours a day? As people pointed out above, they’re actually working on cars that can sense when pedestrians are about, and only react then.
I never expected such thoughtless sarcasm from you, of all people, @gorillapaws. I’m really surprised. Besides, if I was made of 2 tons of steel on wheels controlled by an idiot, that might be advisable.
The noise would not have to be loud, shrill or annoying.
@Dutchess_III I apologize for being rude (and I was being rude—you were right to call me out on it). It’s just that I’ve put down 1k on reserving a Tesla Model 3. One of the things I’m looking forward to is quiet, relaxing ride. If I’ve got a glorified cuckoo-clock speaker built into the thing, that’s going to get annoying-as-hell really fast.
Well, maybe it would be just external, and you, in the car, couldn’t hear it at all? And forget the cuckoo-clock. Go with the Road Runner. Just a quiet kind of “beep beep” maybe?
@gorillapaws If I’m not mistaken, the cuckoo-clock acoustics are optional on the Model 3. ;-)
I could be wrong, but there are several choices of what sounds are made by the horn on the Mod 3: standard honk; Elan Musk or Donald Duck yelling, “Move it or lose it, you lethargic Luddite! ;-o”
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