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Toyota Adds External Speakers To Warn Pedestrians

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the noise-pollution dept.

HockeyPuck writes "When I was a kid, playing with my matchbox cars, I used to say 'VROOOM VROOOM' to pretend my toy cars had big engines in them. Well it seems that Toyota has decided to do the same thing with the Prius by optionally installing, in Japan, external speakers to alert pedestrians of oncoming Priuses."

14 of 531 comments (clear)

  1. Horn? by ruiner13 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Isn't that what the horn is for?

    --

    today is spelling optional day.

    1. Re:Horn? by oldspewey · · Score: 3, Insightful

      For most vehicles travelling at around 30km/h or more, unless the driver is standing on the gas pedal, most of the noise comes from the tires, not the engine.

      --
      If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
    2. Re:Horn? by coolsnowmen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      what? From the age I was allowed to cross the street, I was told to LOOK both ways, never to just listen for a car. There are many things that move that don't make loud engine noises (bikers, runners, segways, animals) AND fast moving cars. If a car is moving fast enough, you won't hear is coming [till it is too late], especially in a traffic filled area, there are always car sounds. you _ have _ to _ look.

      If you consider the quiet of the prius to be a disadvantage, then roll down the window and just scream the whole time.

      The only reason this would be useful for is blind people. The only [legally] blind person I've even known, only walked in neighborhoods (where cars should be going slow enough to yield to any pedestrian) and cross walks (that have an auditory signal). No where is car sound reliable enough to be a decision making factor.

    3. Re:Horn? by Jawnn · · Score: 1, Insightful

      what? From the age I was allowed to cross the street, I was told to LOOK both ways, never to just listen for a car...

      Right...
      And no one is ever distracted, or lazy, or maybe even just blinded by glare, so they should just take their lumps and shut up about it. Or put another way, even though we could prevent innumerable accidental injuries and deaths by adding an aural warning, we should not do that just because stupid or inattentive people don't deserve it. Have I got that right?

    4. Re:Horn? by knarf · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If every car we have today would be silent you would see a great increase in traffic-deaths.

      No, if every car on the road was as silent as electric cars are people would not learn to rely on their hearing to check for the presence of cars. They would look for them instead, just like you're supposed to do now but often ignore 'because you don't hear any cars coming'.

      --
      --frank[at]unternet.org
    5. Re:Horn? by yurtinus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Indeed, read the study. I am even more dubious of the threat posed by quieter cars. The sample size of hybrid accidents with cyclists and pedestrians is 125. 125 incidents for HEVs versus 5440 similar incidents in ICE vehicles. The study controls are also *very* dubious. For ICE cars they analyze the Camry, Corolla, Civic, and Accord. For HEVs they compare with the Camry Corolla, Civic, Accord, *and* Prius - a car with a fairly novel design and different viewability than you find in the more "standard" sedans. I'd be very curious to see how the number line up without including the Prius, but seriously doubt there will be enough data to prove anything conclusive.

      So yes, I am extremely dubious about the threat of "quiet cars," thinking it is often being used as an excuse in place of an actual cause (say... driver or pedestrian inattention?). Sure, some tech-gadgets really do save lives, but too many new "safety and convenience features" on cars simply encourage lazy drivers.

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      +1 Disagree
    6. Re:Horn? by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't know about your town but everyone here is jogging or walking around with headphones or earbuds bolted to their head. Unless the plan is to make these cars sound like some POS ricer or a Harley, it won't make a difference.

      Drivers certainly don't help matters either. The morons here tend to read STOP as Hey, cruise through without turn signals at 10-15 MPH.

      So, yeah, it would be good if people weren't idiots who only focused on themselves but you can legislate or require commonsense. It's the same crap as when iPods started having settings to limit the volume.

      Maybe it's just me but I try to keep my eyes and ears open. If I'm walking along a road without sidewalks, I'm looking back every now and then. Not good visibility? I'm keeping a close eye at the corner obscured by parked van.

      What's next? Warnings on bags to not put them over your head and on buckets about not putting small children upside-down in them with water?

  2. Just when you think... by nine-times · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just when you think quiet electric cars are going to help diminish the noise pollution problem, they go and do this.

    1. Re:Just when you think... by geekoid · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Except there isn't a problem.

      This is a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist.

      Like trying to solve the Bermuda Triangle Mystery when in fact there is no actual mystery.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  3. Re:Only Priuses? by oldspewey · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes. They are admitting to the fact they are fitting optional speakers to the Prius.

    --
    If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
  4. Re:Only Priuses? by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Linked article says Nissan is planning to add it to the Leaf, too. So I'm afraid I don't understand your point.

    (Also, a lot of hybrids never move without the engine running, so it's less of an issue with, say, the Civic.)

  5. Non issue by xaxa · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Please don't forget the blind that trained themselve to listen to car engin to determine if it's safe to cross. Also i like being able to ear incoming cars it help me to position my self when cycling.

    There are lots of electric cars and hybrid cars round here (and the occasional hybrid bus). I have no problem hearing them approach me on my bicycle -- most of the noise vehicles make is the tyres rubbing against the road. (If it's quiet I can hear bicycle tyres.) Most of the time I don't notice anything unusual until the vehicle has passed.

    Consider: engines don't make that much noise while idling, but you can still hear cars going downhill.

  6. Re:Only Priuses? by sexconker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The blind have no problems hearing electric cars.
    They aren't deaf, like the rest of the retarded populace, and they don't have shitty white earbuds jammed into their ears 24/7, like the rest of the retarded populace.

    Electric cars driving down a street are not quiet.
    They are simply quieter than a regular car.

    It's not like trying to listen to a cat sneaking up behind you on a carpeted floor.

  7. Re:Only Priuses? by lxs · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Oh yeah! It'll be just like my camera phone going *click* and pretending to be a real camera.

    I wonder how many decades we will be stuck with pointless throwbacks like this.