Vehicle Proximity Notification System (VPNS)

disconnecting will stop it from happening, only thing is it has now become a federal law pertaining to any electric vehicles for safety reasons and will result in a very nice fine. i can pull the new vehicle code pertaining to it if you would like

 

Here's the legislation. It was signed January 4th, 2011, but I don't believe there's a rule in place to require compliance yet.

"The Secretary shall promulgate the required motor vehicle safety standard pursuant to this subsection not later than 36 months after the date of enactment of this Act."

That would be by January 4th, 2014.

"Phase-in Required- The motor vehicle safety standard prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall establish a phase-in period for compliance, as determined by the Secretary, and shall require full compliance with the required motor vehicle safety standard for motor vehicles manufactured on or after September 1st of the calendar year that begins 3 years after the date on which the final rule is issued."

This would be later still, so it looks like any compliance by manufacturers at the moment is strictly voluntary.

 

i disconnected mine a long time ago.. no problems...

well.. no additional problems.. pedestrian stupidity doesn't really change with or without the VPNS operating.

 

I wonder if anyone posting here has a blind friend?

I was discussing the VPNS yesterday evening with a friend who is legally blind - he can just about read a computer screen from a few inches away as long as he blows the type up to a very large font - and he told me his biggest problem in an urban setting is with drivers pulling out of parking lots, across the sidewalk, and into the street (not supermarket lots, the ones between two buildings in a typical downtown). Many drivers don't look very carefully for pedestrians, and without some audible indication of their presence he'd have no way of even knowing they were there.

 

You c guys need to venture out of your corner. There is a wealth of information to be found in the other sections.

vehicle proximity notification system aka the noisemaker | PriusChat

2012 Prius Noisemaker | PriusChat

2012 Prius Vehicle Proximity Notification System (VPNS) - Video | PriusChat

Nobody hears the proximity warning | PriusChat

Plus more

 

Right...and why isn't helping just those with sight issues enough of a reason to have it? People can do what they want to their cars, but I don't think we should be so flippant about helping people who benefit most from it.

 

if one pays attention to pedestrians and drives carefully in parking lots, etc., it is easy not to hit anyone with your near silent vehicle. i have managed it for 8 years without even a close call.

 

as a reminder, the VPNS does turn off if you go above 15mph... so just another factor to throw in your thought process as to what effectiveness it'll be when you're traveling above that speed and a pedestrian is involved.

yea.. at that point.. the VPNS is useless.

 

Any chance of getting you to snap a photo? I looked yesterday but couldn't locate the damn thing.

 

Have you ever been walking, and been suprised by a car? All the sermonizing about inattentive pedestrians aside, it does happen. You don't have eyes in the back of your head, and life is never perfect. And a hybrid rolling on it's electric motor alone, dead silent, is no help.

I'd say the noise maker is a minor irritant with a lot of potential benefit. Just for starters, it might allow you to avoid sticking your head out the window to mouth a silly "excuse me" to a pedestrian ambling down a parking lot lane.

 

there is a thread or two here with pics. you can search and find them. it is located in the lower left front fender, below and behind the headlite. you'll see a funny shaped black plastic object with a large white wire connector plug. if you have small hands and thin arms, you can reach down and unplug the connector by squeezing the side clamp and pulling. or you can remove the lower fender panel and it's right in front of you. or you can just snip the wires with a pair of diag. cutters.

 

I'm not opposed to a VPNS, but I don't like the sound(s) that Toyota chose. The unit doesn't sound like an automobile. As many have said elsewhere, it sounds like a Jetson's aircar. As a pedestrian I would not associate that sound with anything as threatening as a moving vehicle.

I think the VPNS is the black, round unit behind the cable in the photo below. The plug is alongside the support bracket on the left side of the unit, not visible in this photo.


Tom

 

The Silent but Potentially Deadly article drew its information from an earlier condescending article, which drew from a detailed Slate article, which drew from an actual 2011 National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration study. The NHTSA study is a well done statistical analysis of traffic accident data from the last decade. Unfortunately, statistical analyses are rarely entertaining. Perhaps we can forgive the reporters for missing the most important study conclusion:

"The largest difference between the incidence rates of HE versus ICE vehicles in this study occurred in low-speed passenger vehicle maneuvers: those in which a vehicle is turning, slowing or stopping, backing up, or entering or leaving a parking space... ...the odds of an HE vehicle being involved in a [low-speed] pedestrian crash was 1.66 times the odds of an ICE vehicle being involved in a similar crash." (page 19)​

In short, hybrid vehicles maneuvering at less than 35 mph were more likely to hit a pedestrian than ICE vehicles. Above 35 mph, or while traveling straight at less than 35 mph, hybrid and ICE vehicles were equally likely to hit a pedestrian. The study also showed increased risk to bicyclists from hybrids in a wide variety of traffic conditions.

Congress has voted and surprisingly the statistics back them up. It appears the noisemakers are here to stay.


Tom

 

Here are the photos that show how to easily disconnect it.

First remove this Philips screw:


Gently pop off this rivet with a screwdriver:


Now you can bend this cover down and access the noisemaker:


And when you look inside, the white connector is what you want to disconnect. Those two bolts hold the noisemaker in, but you don't need to remove it.