Remember that episode of The Office when Andy uses his Prius as a stealth ramming device and lodges Dwight into some bushes? Japan, the land of everything mystical and wonderful, must have seen that episode too and has some issues with the quiet demeanor of hybrids. They are the best selling vehicles over there and citizens have expressed concern to the Transportation Ministry that they might be too quiet. A dream team panel comprised of scholars, consumers, police, and blind people decided the best way to deal with this problem is to make the cars louder when running on batteries.
This is in the very preliminary rounds and a specific sound hasn’t been chosen, nor how to make it pedestrian-friendly while not a nuisances to everyone else. The panel is expected to wrap up everything by the end of the year.
GM has tackled this issue already in the upcoming Chevy Volt. We found out about it when we test drove an engineering mule a few months back. The driver activates the sound which is a lot more friendly than blowing the horn. This is a larger issue for the Volt than traditional hybrids who generally run on the combustion engine a lot sooner than the Volt’s generator kicks in. The Volt is totally silent for about 40 miles of travel.
It is spelled “quiet”.
Thanks for fixing this. :)
I am both a runner and a hybrid owner, and I have mixed feelings about this. I love that our Camry Hybrid is so quiet. You’ve never heard a car stereo sound so good until you’ve been in such a quiet car. But as a runner, I have to be more careful to listen for hybrid cars. The Toyota hybrids have a quiet, high-pitched whine when they’re running on electric power. This is subtle and harder to hear than a traditional internal combustion engine.
A hybrid is also especially dangerous for someone who is listening to earphones. And I can’t imagine how much harder it would be for someone who is deaf.
But then again, I don’t want my hybrid to sound like a diesel. I love the quiet when I’m behind the wheel.
Interesting, the Volt that is not for sale is getting the noise maker yet the GM two-mode, hybrid Tahoe, which has sold over 1,000 this year, does not have a pedestrian noisemaker. The difference is Lotus Engineering that is consulting on the Volt.
The real problem is having over 500,000 Prius sold in the USA since 2001, there is no evidence of a hybrid hazard. The accident statistics show the Prius has the same accident rate as ordinary vehicles.
The NHTSA held a hearing June 23, 2008 and the opposition research is available at http://www.regulations.gov, search “NHTSA-2008-0108-0020″ and the facts and data remain. There are enough Prius on the road and the accident data shows no hybrid hazard any worse than ordinary vehicles.
Bob Wilson, Huntsville AL
This is definitely an issue for the blind and visually impaired. As a parent of a person with low-vision, of course I’m biased toward a little more noise, for the added safety benefit.
H.R. 734, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 is now in the works: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-734.
Which is safer for your offspring: (1) pedestrian avoidance and crash absorbing hoods, bumpers and quarter panels in all cars, or (2) the same noise that traffic already makes today?
I would be happy if your offspring carried a beacon, a type of “panic button” found on the keyfobs that would alert me via my car that they are in the area. Noise on demand because there is someone who needs special attention. But that is not found in HR 734 nor in S 841.
About 5 of 4,700 pedestrian deaths are the blind, killed by today’s noise generating vehicles. This is 0.1% of all deaths and HR 734 and S 841 ignore the 99.9% by legislating a failing system on one class of vehicles. It is the least effective approach to pedestrian accident safety.
Bob Wilson, Huntsville AL