I still chuckle every time I think of that Prius reverse beeper...that's heard only inside the car. I know the noisemaker does address some potentially serious issues, but there's still something odd about it. Anyhow, back to topic.
S. 841: Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 Signed into law Jan 4, 2011: Became Public Law No: 111-373.
I've accidentally snuck up on folks in parking lots and such. People just don't hear it and I've actually had a near-miss or 2. A Prius in EV going slowly is softer then ambient traffic noise imo. Whether or not VPNS was actually "necessary" or not, I'm glad they added it.
Darn. This means I have to stay off the sidewalks. ..........Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 Signed into law Jan 4, 2011: Became Public Law No: 111-373
That's precisely my experience, a few times. D.O. for opinion. A bit of tire whisper does not cut it if pedestrians are talking, there's a bit of wind or whatever ambient noise around. I've been tempted to roll down the window and say beep-beep, LOL, I don't want to freak someone out with a blast of the horn. And if the noise maker is so quiet you have to strain to hear it, that's too quiet.
That'd be perfectly true if the Prius had a horn that could scare me. Especially if you grill block. For that matter has anyone tested how well you can hear this after grill blocking is in place?
Funny, I was having a conversation with my sales guy today (he's back at my dealer) about this. He said he had heard concerns about it, but he didn't notice it when he took some clients on test drives either. If you have to TRY to hear it, it's obviously not that intrusive. Best way to hear it is in EV mode (forced or just slow parking-lot driving). Drive up next to a wall with the A/C and radio off, and windows down. Or... if you don't have a willing driver to demo for you AND you're trusting of your e-brake - set your parking brake, put the car in drive (make sure it's not rolling! - it won't if the brake is set well), then step out and listen (yes, the car will warn you that it's in Drive). Yea, I've done it. No, it's not loud.
Wife and I picked up our Prius v Three today and found that the VPNS was VERY VERY apparent. I drove home in our old car, got there first and waited for her on the driveway. While she slowly pulled onto the driveway and inching her way into the garage (she wasn't used to the short hood yet), I heard this sound. At first I thought it was something wrong with the car, because honestly I thought VPNS would sound like Knight Rider or something Instead, it sounded like grinding brakes. But when I noticed that sound actually came out only when she let go of the brakes, I figured it can't be the brakes... must be the VPNS. Anyway, long story short, the VPNS was plenty loud for me to hear and I was at least 8 feet away from the front of the car.
Ahh.... maybe that's why Toyota decided to pick that letter. I wonder if they had TOS or the re-imagined (TNS?) version in mind.
Personally, I wish it was louder. I've had several occasions where I had to sit and wait for old / inattentive / (and yes, in one case) blind people to move because they were completely unaware there was a car in the area. One time, an old man got distracted while crossing a driveway, and of course I'm not gonna honk at him, so I just sat there, in the road, for a good 30 seconds waiting for him to move on... it's kinda creepy being that quiet, honestly.
Maybe grinding brake wasn't the best way to describe it. It's like when your disk brake pads are nearing the end of its life and there is that thing in them that purposely rubs against your rotor to make a high pitched scratching sound? It's like that mixed in with a little refrigerator compressor. I'm pretty sure it's the VPNS. Anyway, sorry for the tangent, my original point was that it was plenty loud for me to hear, I'm not sure how you can miss it if you're in front of the car with typical parking lot ambient noise.
