Someone told me that the Prius is too stealthy and quiet and that the new ones will be required to make more noise so that blind pedestrians will be able to hear the car. Has anyone else seen or heard of this ? FishHawk
Re: Prius to stealthy Yes there have been complaints. Congress is now considering legislation to set up a panel to make recommendations within 2 years, and then to give auto makers 2 years to respond. Just what the world needs. Legislated noise.
Re: Prius to stealthy I've heard that too (TV news item). Come to think of it - seems like a reasonable request. Wonder what they will come up with (Prius pseudo noise)?
Re: Prius to stealthy Stealth Mode in a parking lot sneaking up on a co-worker is half the fun. Now if I could talk the wife into train horns...
Re: Prius to stealthy Well, if extra noise is legislated, I think that the 5kHz inverter whine should be amplified so that the Prius will sound like a UFO approaching.
Re: Prius to stealthy Maybe rustling leaves, or a babbling brook, or James Taylor singing "Traffic Jam."
Re: Prius to stealthy What? You're serious? Let's keep score: 0 - number of blind people injured or killed by silent cars, ever. 10's of thousands - number of people who are killed by gasoline exhaust in the US every single year. So we take quiet cars and have them make noise to save the people who aren't being killed... instead of spending the money on getting rid of the cars that are actually killing us? Help! Nobody seems to give a damn that gasoline cars kill us. But we sure worry about the chance that a blind person may, at some point, be run over. I dare say that a blind person is WAY more likely to be injured or killed by a traditional gasoline car than by a "quiet" car.
I do not think that this refers to the legally blind people - it is certainly applicable to the morons that cross the streets everyday talking to their cell phones or teaching their kids to cross riding their bikes or crossing when they have a red signal or crossing for the heck of it because they are pedestrians. As soon as I can get my hands on one I'm going to install a "mooooo" horn (as in cow) since a train horn could cause an undesirable heart attack. An alternative hi-tech gadget would be some form of sterilizing radiation which, although would not protect from "this" particular moron, it would at least minimize the possibility for him/her propagating their genes.
Re: Prius to stealthy Once we get rid of quiet cars and gay marriage, THEN maybe we can finally spare a bit of time, energy and money on the less important issues like our failing economy, our failing education system, our failing health care system, and the money and life hemorrage in the middle East. Ah, priorities.
There is a small group of blind folks who are trying to make this happen. Sad to say but they've made up their minds and we are going to have to answer them at the polls and voting booths. It is important that their proposed legislation either be fixed, addressing the real problem of 5,000 pedestrian and cyclist deaths per year, or killed if it remains in the current, fatally flawed form. Sad to say but there are "useful idiots" out there who are incapable of seeing the big picture. But remember or re-read the story of "Bell the Cat:" The mice had a meeting to discuss the problem of the vicious cat who had already killed several of their family. One young mouse stood up and said,"What we must do is put a bell on this vicious killer so we can know he is about." All of the mice cheered until a wisened, old mouse rose and asked, "Who will put the bell on the cat?" A solution must be practical and this "bell the cat" proposal is being carried forward by folks with more energy than sense. Others who either don't see the big picture or want to 'sensationalize' the story or worse, the hybrid skeptics, will echo this nonsense. So go back to your friend and ask them: How many pedestrians and cyclist are killed by hybrids each year? How many are killed by ordinary gas vehicles? How come they don't care about the 5,000 killed by their ordinary gas vehicles? Get your friend to realize they don't have the facts and data but only one side by a bunch of blind bullies who have decided to "bell the cat." Bob Wilson
Hi All, I will say it again. Quiet is not the problem, noise is. The last time I almost got run over by a NOISEY 18 wheeler truck pulling up a slight hill(it was 30 yards away doing 30 mph as I stepped into the road), was because I could not hear it, due to the NOISEY Jet aircraft overhead. The other issue is that ALL cars are as quiet has Hybrids when the operator lifts the throttle to put his/her foot over the brake. And this is standard precautionary action when one sees a pedestrian walking toward the path of the vehicle. Which one has to do allot more of these days with pedestrians yacking on cell phones. There is no difference here. An idling engine is masked by other road vehicle and tire noise above about 20 mph as the exhaust is at the rear of the vehicle. The only noise difference between a standard car and a hybrid, is AFTER the car has gone by. Which has no benefit for the pedestrian avoiding getting hit. If anything the quitness of the hybrid car that has past a position, makes it easier for the blind to hear oncoming traffic.
Rather than Congress spending millions of dollars and wasting time, although they are extremely efficient at that.... Someone come up with a bracket that goes across the wheel well so we can attach a baseball card with a wooden clothes pin. Then it makes noise whether coasting or on the throttle. Saves million$ and is way more simple than whatever the government will come up with. Another thought along the same lines as what congress might come up with... Let's go back to using hub caps and just put a few stones inside the cap before installation. Something stupid has to be better than a govt. solution.
there was a report on this here on our local news. i laughed, in all honesty. how about you watch where your going when you walk? for blind people, i guess there is an argument. but thats where driver responsibility comes on.
Re: Prius to stealthy No ... he didn't even get started ... the stupidity continues ad infinitem, ad nausium: What about all the poor deaf people .. you know ... if they're not watching? What about the deaf AND blind ? What about all the stupid people, that don't watch where they're going? What about the noise-less bikes?
