Japan considers adding noise pollution to hybrids

Any big city bicyclist knows that being small and silent on the street is a deadly combination. Drivers of 2-ton cages are simply immune to anything but the sights and sounds of combustion engines riding four on the floor. This issue affects silent-running hybrids and compact electrics too, something Japan's government is taking seriously in a new government review that could result in a mandate for the inclusion of "a sound making function" in their future eco-rides. Safety aside, we presume Japanese manufacturers would choose a sound that's as tasteful and unassuming as their locally brewed hybrids. Imagine if GM was to make a similar decision... oh, right.

[jpxdude @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:16AM]

They could make it sound like an ice-cream truck.

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:28AM]

This isn't necessary. They better not try something stupid like this in the States.

[Stemu2000 @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:29AM]

The ice cream truck music is already in use by others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_LJEDPjsjs&NR=1

[MrNuclear @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:38AM]

They should make them sound like a lightsaber. They could crackle when they bump into stuff.

[GeekGirl @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:59AM]

I love how quiet my prius is.....

[Quantumphysics @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:25AM]

They should make them sound like the spacecars on the Jetsons.

[j_g_puff @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:28AM]

I'd rather that they just had a flip-down mic above the drivers seat. Then I can provide my own effects in time with my driving.

[umm....hello??? @ Jul 3rd 2009 1:56PM]

so they're assuming most people won't add some quad 12" subwoofers in their vehicle and go pimping down the street to some cheap SuperMassiveBassEarthquakeFX CD won't be adequate enough for people to hear you from miles away?

[lawyer bird @ Jul 3rd 2009 5:51PM]

Agree with the jetsons thing. We need to find a futuristic sound.

[Ian @ Jul 3rd 2009 6:33PM]

Mazda could make one that constantly goes "Zoom Zoom". That wouldn't get annoying, would it?

[BloodyHell @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:52PM]

@umm....hello???

you really think a hybrid engine could handle woofers?
HAHAHAHAHAHA

[Down @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:19AM]

Customised horn sounds as well? "MOVE BITCH! Get out the way'

[JM @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:20AM]

Personally, I was thinking 8-Bit Super Mario soundtrack. But maybe that's just me.

[Derek Campbell @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:26AM]

So when you crash, it's the same sound effect as when Mario gets squished and dies and proceeds to fall straight down off the screen wagging his arms? Or when you take it for a spin on a pedestrian sidewalk your car goes all-rainbow and plays the "invincible" jingle while the people you run off are walloped and thrown over you? Or the next time your car enters a tunnel it makes the same sound as when Mario goes into a pipe to go underground? Also, if you are able to speed up fast enough (doubtful) to propel your car onto a ramp and try to plow as high up onto a flagpole as possible you get that final victory theme!

[y3k.nik @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:01AM]

I approve...

[Greg @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:54AM]

I would actually prefer the Pacman "wakka-wakka" sound.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:57AM]

I will settle for nothing less that the sound the cars make on "The Jetsons".

Total no brainer.

[Cheng @ Jul 3rd 2009 10:02AM]

@Derek, you should make a after market device that does exactly that!
Sign me up for one!

[darkstar @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:27AM]

i want my car to make the transformer noise every time i start it. eerrr orrr uhh. uhhhhhh
:-D

[Evan @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:29AM]

Absolutely needed! Residential streets in Japan are narrow (sometimes only one lane wide), with blind corners (houses tend to have solid walls or fences 1 inch from the side of the road), and no side-walks so people just walk along the roads! They have a lot of mirrors (the curved kind that we put in our parking garages), but that isn't much to rely on.

[bartoron @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:31AM]

I guess it'll help, but to be honest a normal-sized car is already a lot easier to see than a bicycle.

[jakem @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:41AM]

What if you're blind?

[Ghen @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:52AM]

Blind people have other options. There's no reason to create noise pollution on all future silent cars just for one tiny subset of the community. If you want, the same result can be obtained from a sonar device on the car and detector in the person's pocket. Silent, but still effective.

[fanman @ Jul 3rd 2009 10:10AM]

What, so you've never stepped out blindly because it was quiet?

[Evan @ Jul 3rd 2009 10:38AM]

Cars also move faster, take longer to stop, and can't swerve around a pedestrian while staying within a lane, like a bicycle. A crash is avoidable even if a cyclist and pedestrian don't notice each other until they are only a few feet apart, but it's a big problem if a car and pedestrian get that close together undetected.

[jake @ Jul 3rd 2009 2:40PM]

@fanman
"What, so you've never stepped out blindly because it was quiet?"

It's the driver's responsibility to look out for pedestrians stepping out onto the street and the pedestrian's responsibility to look before crossing (just like we were taught as little kids).

And again, there hasn't been widely reported incidents of people being killed by hybrids because they are silent. I bet if anyone bothered to come up with statistics there's virtually no-one affected by this supposedly issue. And, above certain speeds, the tire noise dominates. And there are luxury cars that are just as silent as hybrids when cruising. In my opinion they are making a big deal out of nothing.

[Twitchy @ Jul 3rd 2009 7:21PM]

@Evan et al

The majority of the sound preceeding a vehicle comes form the tires, not the engine - just listen carefully the next time a 4 cylinder car rolls past you.

And as for the argumentation hat sound is needed to increase pedestrian safety, whast a load of hogwash. What is needed is that a) Drivers pay attention when they are behind the wheel (stop texting and calling, whilst shaving/putting on your make-up and rolling a cigarette), and b) that Pedestrians behave in a predictable fashion (e.g. cross at the damn crossing and only when the DAMN LIGHT IS GREEN).

[NLI @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:35AM]

woohoo! ringtones for cars!

[Adam @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:38AM]

Do they realise that most of the sound made by a moving vehicule is caused by its movement through and disruption of air, not its engine.

Only at really slow speeds would it need to make a sound.

[MattyG @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:38AM]

my money is on the noise a milk float makes only louder

[Richard @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:40AM]

I walk everywhere with headphones on and can't hear a thing so I simply use my eyes to look if there are any cars coming. It works great and I haven't been run over once!

Anyone who gets run over by an electric car because they decided to walk into the road without looking deserves it. Keeping these cars silent will act as evolutionary means of weeding out the morons.

[Passarinhuu @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:59AM]

It's darwinism doing its thing...

[peepeepants @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:29AM]

@Richard: You're assuming that everyone is a good driver. What happens when you're listening to music and a car comes from behind, runs a red light, or comes around a corner? Not every driver is going to follow the rules, so an audible car helps to detect ones flying out of places that they shouldn't be.

[KGB @ Jul 3rd 2009 11:36AM]

@peepeepants

Its not about being good driver.

Its about you, looking both ways before crossing the road.

[Bill @ Jul 3rd 2009 1:28PM]

peepeepants - you are a dullard.

[BdgBill @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:46AM]

It would be cool to make them make the sound the cars on the Jetsons made. The frequency would change with the speed of the car just like on the show.

[G @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:49AM]

Make it sound like a massive V8 engine. The right sound generating software already exists in games

[ToniCipriani @ Jul 3rd 2009 8:54AM]

Can I get one with the KITT scanner sounds?

[Nogami @ Jul 4th 2009 12:00AM]

Yup, that's where I was going. The lightbar scan sound going back and forth, or the turbine sound. Very cool...

[Jcyber @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:03AM]

How about it make the Godzilla sound!

[Dado @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:05AM]

"Blind people depend on sounds when they walk..."

Maybe they're the problem.....hmmmmm

[Martha Mayson @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:07AM]

I think this is a great idea. I am a deaf person of challenge and I have been hit by 4 hybrids in the past 6 months because I thought it was clear to cross the street. The only sound I heard was after the fact when the drivers honked that doooo-doo-doo-dooo-doo......do-do tune .

[Martha Mayson @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:11AM]

I meant I am a "blind person of challenge". I must have mistyped because I couldn't see what I was typing.

[Adderz @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:17AM]

With any luck everyone else is a blind person of challenge so they wont have to read what you typed either :-)

PS i hate wireless internet, i typed up a lengthy comment just to have it drop out of me and i lost it all *sigh*.

[Valicore @ Jul 3rd 2009 3:20PM]

I sympathize, one of my professors and a good friend of mine is blind and it makes it terrifying for her to try and go out, especially with a cane, with all these silent cars. I think it would be great if there was a device that the BLIND person could have that would sound when there was a vehicle going a certain speed at a certain distance, etc.

[monteb @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:24AM]

My vote: Make it sound like the explosive results of last night's vindaloo curry.

This has three advantages:
1. Safety: People - whatever their creed - instinctively know that this is a noise not to be near.

2. Ecological Responsibility: The mandatory sound will put people off driving, if they are constantly assaulted by the sound of their bowels deciding to call it a day. Therefore people will only drive when they have to. This, combined with more ecological cars will significantly cut vehicular pollution.

3. Social Inclusion: Imagine a sunny day in a quiet suburb. Your window is down, you stop at a traffic light beside a someone in another car. Suddenly you feel the need to fart. Previously had you done so, you would have faced social embarrassment, as either it would have been audible, or covering it would have been required you to rev the engine - inviting 'speed obsessed jerk' comments. With the same noise emanating from the car all the time, no such fears.

[Sally Hamerburg @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:46AM]

This is where the iPhone is a great solution once again. You could plug the iPhone into the aux port of the car stereo, roll the windows down and crank the iFart apps up to full volume.

[KIB2 @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:31AM]

When I pull up next to some one, they don't even notice. I almost ran over a guy because he wasn't looking.
http://fiestamovement.com/agents/view/58

[Verythrax @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:58AM]

I was loving the electric cars idea specially about reducing the noise... what a bummer, I hope it doesn't become a trend.

Did you guys tried to pay attention on how much of the noises you hear all day come just from the cars passing by?

[Alan Strangis @ Jul 3rd 2009 10:23AM]

A tip to all cyclists: Ride your bike like everyone is out to get you. That's a tip I learned from Neal Stephenson's "Zodiac" a long time ago.