Is there anyone here who drove the new Prius V ,who can tell me if the artificial engine noise can be defeated by a knob ? How does ist sound ? Can it be heared from the inside ? I don´t know why the hell Toyota is doing this,it´s like ripping out the soul of the car ! I have been thinking about buying a 2012 regular Prius but if i have to put up with a stupid artificial engine noise i may reconsider ! After all,Toyotas has anounced they will place the sound-generator in every Hybrid modell beginning from 2012 !
"The Blind" is a hard lobby to oppose. Despite no events of blind folks being hit by silent cars, how exactly do you tell Congress, we think their fears are unfounded, without sounding like an nice person?
i am sure you will be able to turn it off... but i read few reviews that said it is not audible with windows up and barely audible with windows down.
I think Congress is just using "The Blind" as an excuse. The noisemaker is really meant to protect idiots who ignore oncoming traffic. Let's call them "The Ignoramus Contingent." "The Ignoramus Contingent" includes people who are too distracted to pay attention to oncoming traffic. This includes many (not all) people wearing earphones or talking on cell phones, people engaged in conversations, people with their backs turned to oncoming traffic or reading something, people who think the world revolves around them and drunks. Trouble is, I don't think a noisemaker is going to help those guys much, if at all. People who have a genuine inability to detect oncoming silent cars, like "The Blind," is a very small group.
Weird and here I thought there would be more deaf people who would be helped by having cars keep their lights on. Not for nothing, but the only way a blind person would even encounter a slow Prius is in a parking lot or a traffic jam. I had to stop and think, what would a blind person be doing in a parking lot by themselves? Going to their car?
Those noise makers are illegal in certain countries and or local jurisdictions. How hard would it be to disable? Should not be harder than unplugging it, cutting a wire or removing a fuse right?
I guess all stereo noise laws should be reversed right? I mean they are just letting the blind know they are within a mile of their location.
It cannot be defeated with a switch, but it is barely audible with the windows down. I was initially concerned, but after hearing it today, I'm fine with it. Honestly, I feel the inverter is louder at times.
The required sound level is quite low. Just take the @$*$@#@ reverse beep and hang it on the front of the car instead of in the passenger compartment. What's next, we add noise makers for the blind, so lets shoot off flares every 100 feet for the deaf.
Call me cynical, but I'm just wondering which politician made a bundle off of the only company to have the patent on it by privately investing in that company. :heh: