As automobiles become more eco-friendly, they're also becoming increasingly quieter... which is a good thing, if, like us, you want to live in a completely silent world (the blaring of Mastodon notwithstanding). The obvious problem with quieter vehicles is, of course that they can pose a real danger to unsuspecting pedestrians. To combat this terrifying prospect, Senators John Kerry (D, MA) and Arlen Spector (R, er... D, PA) have introduced The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. This bill requires the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study on what effects of
hybrid,
electric and other silent engine vehicles are having on pedestrian injuries and deaths in the US. The bill specifically focuses on the perils of quiet engines to blind pedestrians, but notes that the dangers are likely wider spread than that. While there are no possible solutions mentioned, may we suggest writing into law that you have to have a bullhorn strapped to your car and yell "vroom vroom" the entire time you drive?
posted Apr 29th 2009 4:51PM
This can be solved with whistle tips!
You know, and the car's like "Wooo WOOO!"
55 seconds in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnzw_i4YmKk
Why does this smell like Big Oil has their paw prints all over this?
No, it looks like those Dems are 'bout to fuck some quiet engine having bastard Republicans up! Go Spec Go!
Because this generation already have iPods stuffed in their ears, and wouldn't hear a Hemi V8. Or some idiot driving a Civic thinking it's a Ferrari.
Careful they might be strapped.
Hey, electric vehicles are a step forward in both technology and the human race, because people stupid enougth not to look before they corss the road deserve to be killed anyway :)
I think Darwin would agree, Tommo.
Probably because they do.
Noise is inefficiency, doesn't ANYONE in Congress realize that? You can't go making auto companies strive for a certain MPG in a certain amount of time while taking out their ways to actually MAKE IT BETTER!
What's next? Car's are now flipping over a little too much because they are lighter, so let's make them heavier, yet still require the same MPG? It just doesn't work that way!
The obvious solution is to stick a baseball card in the wheel.
@Tommo:
My Father is Blind. Thanks.
@nick pacific
And yet he is still alive, meaning he must not be stupid. Though I can see the issue here for the blind that may get a little careless or do not have the aid of a dog/person.
This isn't a reply to you, but just a general reply. This is so damn stupid, the majority of noise cars make is from the sound of the wheels, not the actual sound of the engines.
To clarify, I mean the sound of the wheels against the road, not that they make noise on their own.
@ wnr: aaahahahahahahahhhahhahahahahaaha
@engadget: MASTODON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@nick pacific
Your father will soon be selected against, best of luck to you seeing stuff!
Look both ways, even on one-way streets. It's simple and will save your life.
It's important to remember that WE ARE ALL conditioned to understand that the "car noise" means "potential danger". Without this 360-degree cue (sound localization) we are much more vulnerable. Yes, looking both ways may help you cross a street, but that's ~160 degrees and the visual system is prone to error (think blind-spot).
This act is necessary and I'm glad (read: impressed) to see that a government is spearheading this. This will save many lives. It is not an advertisement for inefficiency or for big oil - rather it is an intelligent assessment of an ever-more-present situation. It does not ignore human limitations, rather it works within its confines. Some form of sound is necessary to alert individuals (pedestrians and other drivers) to the presence of others on the road. This can be accomplished with something as simple as a low hum, which (through exposure) we will get used to (read: become conditioned) making the association between that and a vehicle.
As I said with the Zero S Motorcycles engadget review, and to quote Halo: "It's quiet... too quiet." Silence can be beautiful, but also deadly.
To put this into perspective, plug both of your ears and live for one day as a deaf person lives. Try to map your world and not make mistakes about where you think things are within your world. See which you prefer.
Does no one here ride a bike? From living in San Francisco and biking through the streets I can safely say it's really freaky to see an electric car 2 feet to your left and not hear it. I look for blinkers and I listen for engines. When you're biking through the city there's not much else you can do. I don't think this kind of research has any business in the senate, where money is wasted everywhere, but automakers should be looking into this sort of thing. Seriously, when you're riding a bike in the city, getting snuck up on by a car is unsettling and dangerous.
Mark,
We tried laissez-faire with the Bush administration; it didn't work. That's the reason why our internet services in the US are so shitty; other countries had government mandates and initiatives. In an economy like this, the last thing any company wants to do is R&D on non-existent safety standards.
I am sorry.... but i have to say this: Can our politicians get any more stupid or close minded with this??? Imagine: Electric and Hybrid cards banned because they don't make Road Noise.
I think those Congressmen are just worry about their stock shares on the oil companies....
Well I have been wondering about this sort of thing for a while--that it could be dangerous not being able to hear some fuckstick who suddenly decided to bomb around a blind corner. Certainly nothing banworthy though, and I like to think that nobody in their right mind would actually BAN EFFECIENT CARS.
Conducting a study to find out the effects of silent engines is far from the same thing as banning electric cars.
Some trading cards in the spokes -> problem solved.
I used to have some respect left for Kerry, even after 2004, but not anymore.
THizzle7XU +1
The funny thing is, the trend of the youth is to put loud exhaust systems on their 4-cylinder cars, so at least blind people would know if a weed-eater was coming close.
"Conducting a study to find out the effects of silent engines is far from the same thing as banning electric cars."
WRONG! they are both stupid and needlessly waste our tax dollars!
@ Dean
+100
Thank you for not jumping to conclusions and oversimplifying.
In other words, thanks for exercising good judgment (it seems to be in short supply in these parts)
@ Dean
+100
Thank you for not jumping to conclusions and oversimplifying.
In other words, thanks for exercising good judgment (it seems to be in short supply in these parts)
When you consider that this would mostly aim towards children, cyclist, normal people walking on the road and not across(not every road has sidewalks), or the blind you have to consider someone, a car company, a group of people where their friend died from a silent car, or any made up story, brought this up and its their job to entertain this idea because if they don't it would probably bite them in the ass. Also its just a simple case study, though it seems most people are just throwing up red flags because they can't get their head out of their ass and see a simple solution is to put anything on the electric\hybrid car that makes a simple and unannoying noise.
What is there to "investigate?" ;and how exactly do you "investigate" this?
See how many people you can run over with a prius without them realizing till the last second.
Whether or not there is a point to all this, or if such "tests" are even remotely possible, is not important right now. Right now, what matters most is figuring out a few hundred more ways to blow a billions of taxpayer dollars.
Stop asking silly questions.
Maybe they should rename it to "Look Both Ways Before You Cross the Fucking Street Act of 2009."
/facepalm
easy, you pour money down a black hole and in a couple years it will spit back out data that is ENTIRELY inconclusive and asks for more funding. Eventually, after 10-20 years they'll find out silent cars are not a danger, not from the study, but from 10-20 years of the cars being out on the market.
@palehorse: Yes, looking both ways before crossing the street is the best solution here, especially for blind people. I mean, seriously, they need to look where they're going.
Templarian:
You have my vote for president, sir.
Just toot your own horns.
I don't think they allow that in public.
Hearing aids.
Also, silent cars should emit ultrasound that can be picked up by those hearing aids.
Or maybe people should just stop walking, like on the Axiom.
What about blind people? When I first heard they were looking into the issue, they referred to blind people as a reason for doing it.
OK, then, have the blind people wear hearing aids that downconvert ultrasound...
Or better yet, I can run over all the blind people with my stealthy hybrid bicycle -- Darwin and all that.
+1 for Wall-E reference.
Silent, but deadly.
Yet with little or no gas.
natural selection. look both ways before crossing the street, sherlock
that's pretty hard when you're blind
Seriously... I think deaf people have been getting along just fine.
@dan
exactly, natural selection. when that beastly prius runs them over they are taken out of the gene pool