Nobody hears the proximity warning

All cars have a proximity warning device - you press the center of the steering wheel and the car emits a loud noise

 

Well I had her drive the PIP back and forth in the driveway.
What a weird Sound. Like a Flying Saucer.

So I made my own Sound Recording.
Click on the Google link, then select Download.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2N9HqNt_ZSeXzRhVC1naVZUT0NUckdweWFYM3ZUZw/edit

 

It said to request access from the owner so I clicked ask

Mike

 

OK, try again.
I added "Access to Anyone with the Link".

 

uhh.. like unplugging any other connector? open hood.. locate connector connected to speaker... press down on the locking tab thingy.. and pull it out.

my vehicle proximity system is my horn.. i don't need big brother to tell me and force me to use that weird noisemaker thing.

 

I finally heard the frigging noise; made my wiff drive it by the driveway and me walking by its side, weird !!!!

 

Got it. Sounds like a George Jetson vehicle

I guess I will have to wait to hear my own and decide if it gets unplugged or left alone.

Mike

 

Yeah, but people seem to get upset if you use that from 0-15mph...

 

Many non-blind people are walking around with their hearing turned off, on the expectation that eyesight will catch the hazards. Then they don't realize when they are using tunnel vision. Taps of my Prius horn are less than 100% effective, and some local railroad track tragedies have demonstrated that even freight train horns are not 100% effective.

The reaction of the visually impaired, who are much less likely to tune out background noise, will be much more telling.

 

They do, but not as upset as when they're sprawled across your windshield

 

I'm not publicly endorsing the use of profanity, or using the Prius in an illegal manner, but this clip from the Showtime television series "Weeds" perhaps illustrates the quiet nature of the vehicle, a GenII pictured:

 

I suggest two separate horns. A loud obnoxious one for when some doofus cuts you off on the road, and a milder one for when you're in a parking lot . The latter to be clearly audible and attention-getting, but not so loud as to give people a heart attack.

My Xebra had a back-up beeper, and I had a switch installed for it. So when I could see clearly in all directions, I didn't need to use it, but backing out of a blind parking slot I could alert pedestrians. Everybody knows what a back-up beeper means. Maybe have a "backup beeper" that you could turn on with a press-and-hold button (like the horn button) on the steering wheel when approaching pedestrians from behind. A regular car horn sounds like you're saying "Get out of my way, jerk!" but a beeper just sounds like you're saying "I'm coming."

 

A backup beeper would probably work a lot better than this (IMO) dumb system that's a waste of r&d. The air conditioning spool cycle is probably more audible than this pedestrian notification system. Get the car into a real city (where it actually counts) and it will never be heard over the ambient noises.

I simply turn my a/c on and off. The spool up is pretty audible no matter what (although, like the system, nobody knows exactly what that sound is besides hybrid owners)

 

I had such a device installed with my turn signal lights in a commercial van many years ago. It was an attention grabber and saved me of few distracted pedestrians accidents.
My neighbors heated the sound thou

 

SquallLHeart,
I see the Speaker, but the opening to reach it is TOO SMALL to squeeze ANY hand down to reach the speaker wire.
And there is a Plate below it that blocks access from under the car.

How did you do it?

 

i used my hand.. lol... i reached down there and unplugged it.

if you can't find someone with smaller hands.. the only other thing is to remove the bottom plate and move it out of the way.. if that doesn't work.. the front bumper needs to be moved out of the way.

 

SquallLHeart,

I searched and finally found a video of You and your Skinny Arms and Hands that allowed you to reach and disconnect the speaker wire. You show up 1:30 into the video.

[ame="http://www.hulu.com/watch/73360/saturday-night-live-lawrence-welk"]Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Lawrence Welk@@AMEPARAM@@http://www.hulu.com/embed/8_w7Fg6171f4aSjOKhzcBw@@AMEPARAM@@8_w7Fg6171f4aSjOKhzcBw[/ame]

 

I wouldn't mind it at all if it sounded like a sonic screwdriver

 

The OP has a Prius C VS the PIP

 

O.K. so at 1:01 in the video, it sure looks like the Japanese version has a noisemaker cutoff switch in the cabin.