AutoblogGreen

1 kid gets hit in 10 years of hybrids and "we have to legislate a minimum noise level"?!?!?

How many kids on bikes get hit by REGULAR cars EVERY DAY because they didn't look where they were going?

When every car makes noise, you create a noisy environment. When you have a noisy environment you STILL CAN'T HEAR an individual car. No matter what they do (force hybrids to make noise or not), it won't have any effect for people who don't make an effort to be aware of their surroundings.

I've ridden plenty of times when you can't hear cars coming behind you because the oncoming cars mask the sound, so YOU HAVE TO LOOK over your shoulder (or use mirrors) so you don't get your ass run over. Even if you can hear the cars coming from behind, you don't know how close they are, or if they're going around you or driving drunk onto the shoulder to run you over.

On a related note, some pedestrian got run over by an Amtrak train doing 80mph (NOT QUIET) in Tacoma the other day... he was talking on a cell phone and not paying attention. I almost got run over by a street car in downtown Seattle because I didn't look around enough when crossing the tracks, and you couldn't hear it because there was so much other noise. The train horn made me leap out of my shoes to get out of the way. :)

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I disagree with most replies. We have "5 senses", and I know when I am the driver, at least 4 of those are working. Blind people decide when and where to cross a street by sound (incl the beeper on many crosswalks). Now I won't say this kid did or didn't get hit due to lack of car noise. But, a kid darting into the street ON A BIKE is not legally the drivers fault. Hitting a pedestrian blind or not is though.

What would be a cool sound for an electric car to make? Maybe something like "Here comes a Toyotal Prius" or "Here comes an electric car".

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Add a whistle or other noisemaker to my new car and it'll be gone before I leave the lot!

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Doesn't anyone actually pay attention when cars drive buy. When a car is coming toward you, you almost never hear engine noise. You hear wind and tire noise, it is only when driving away that you really hear the engine noise.

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This is just friggin retarded. Most noise from new cars comes from TIRENOISE. Do NOT blaime the Prius for this one!!!

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Cell phones in Japan have proximity sensors. Teens program in personality likes and then are signaled when someone near them matches thier chosen profile.

If all silent cars put out a signal that the Blind can recive on a phone or by vibrating thier cane then we would just have to rely on natural selection to weed out the kids who don't look both ways.

TM!

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I would love to know the financial well being of the family of this kid. It would be interesting to know how much of their complain was influenced by the idea of a quick pay day.

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I created a post on this subject on MNspeak, an online forum I often contribute to. Hat tip to Alex and Autoblog Green for telling me about a story in my own back yard!

http://www.mnspeak.com/mnspeak/archive/post-5382.cfm

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Just what we need...MORE NOISE! It would be nice if there was just a buzz from electric vehicles, You might even be able to think! Instead you have people driving around radio's blastin, with a phone stuck to their head, putting on makeup, reading the paper etc.. the list is endless. The fact is there are 2 tons plus of metal flying down the road, it your not in it, you better watch out for it! Regardless if it makes noise or not! If you get hit by a bicycle are you going to sue Schwyn?? Get real people and quit trying to blame other people for your stupidity! As for the blind, not everyone can afford a new this or that to help them dedect a vehicle, heck, its getting hard to afford a tank full of gas! So I think we might have to do some things "old school" like open your eyes.. pay attention.. little things like that, things most people have forgot or where never taught!

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Thats fine. I'll just honk my Prius's horn on and off continuously as I'm driving through neighborhoods on the way to school at 5AM or when I get home from work at 11PM. Its not like I'm in a hurry, I get better mileage when I go slow. I'll make these idiots wish they had never been jealous of my MPG to the point not looking before crossing the road becomes my fault because I drive a hybrid. The Prius makes all kinds of cool noises when driving in EV mode, from the whir of the electric motor to the A/C condenser. I bet some Buick models make less noise than my Prius. Go drive your SUVs and shut the hell up. Not my fault you get bad MPG.

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survival of the fittest.

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Kid needs to pay attention.

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"which his mother says he didn't hear"

And did not see!!! I would take him to his Doctor to check this kids vision.

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Sorry to burst the bubble that some 'pro-Prius as they are'people are living in but given that we now discover that people have always used their hearing to warn themselves of oncoming dangers and that the silent nature of hybrids is a danger to the blind , then something needs to give here.I was almost knocked over by a Prius the other day. It came silently around a corner at an intersection. The fact that it shocked me so badly woke me up to this problem as I've not had this happen before.

To those that cite the so called requirement that drivers in some states (like VT and MA) are REQUIRED TO STOP (not 'slow down') the moment a person's foot hits the crosswalk ...excuse me for laughing my a** off - you have GOT to be kidding -it's a deathtrap for a pedestrian these days as drivers have forgotten the fact that , law or no law, a the only difference between a car driver and a pedestrian is that car drivers are propelling a huge chunk of polluting, noisy, resource wasting metal around.So how about a little respect and following the law before you lay the 'look both ways' law on we foot traffic !!

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Pedestrian responsibility is huge, but a car wins every time when they meet.

As a runner and pedestrian I am very defensive. I work against traffic. I don't use an ipod. I am overall very wary. Hybrids can still sneak up on me with left turns across traffic into a driveway or cross street. Drivers are overall, less likely to be focused on things other than other vehicles.

I am sure some simple projection device can be made for awareness of those outside of the vehicle without causing those inside to go deaf.

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Okay, my 2 cents:

1)I would rather see gasoline engines banned than hybrid/electrics. Gas engines ARE noisy, and look where excessive usage and unnecessary demand for oil has gotten us!

2)While the blind need to hear things, I like the idea of the laser. Or, failing that, find a guide animal. If the blind person's allergic to animals, go back to the laser solution, if need be. Or gee, how about drawing on Gene Roddenberry's solution for Geordi La Forge...create some sort of visor. ;-)

3)As for the boy needing to pay for damages to the car, come on people. To me, part of being green is easing up on the materialism enough to know that a car is just a car, and like Buddha would say, is temporary, and will pass away. So what if the paint got scratched? It doesn't affect anything under the hood, does it? Lighten up on your expectations of how things should look, based on thoughts or fears of approval or disapproval, and you'll have less stress. Quit obsessing about unimportant BS. Worry more if someone gets hurt, and less about how much a paint job is...

4)Response-ability comes from both parties: the bike rider and the driver, whether the driver is using a hybrid or not. Whether or not a hybrid gets a gizmo to make noise so people know you're coming or going doesn't matter. What does matter is people need to take responsibility for their actions and non-actions. For not taking action is still an action. ;-)

There, I've said my piece.

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