Electric cars and noise

I think they should all sound like a Harley with straight pipes. The louder the better. Also, pedestrians and bicycles must also omit loud sounds so that they don't run into each other. Everything must be loud. What? Did you say something? What? :madgrin:

 

I wonder if this is better or worse than dealing with the insurance company / auto body shop when you have an accident here in the US? :madgrin:

 

Yeah yeah yeah. The Prius is quieter than the other cars they tested. At 5 mph. I get it.

Oddly, the article didn't mention that the research was sponsored by the US National Federation for the Blind -- the organization that is pushing the bill in the Congress. Which is more than a bit disingenuous, wouldn't you say?

Again, somewhat oddly, the article didn't mention the European tests posted earlier on Priuschat, where all cars for sale there were tested for noise levels, and 10% of models appear to be as quiet or quieter than the Prius at low speed. Showing that if the issue is low noise, it's not just a hybrid problem.

Based on the earlier threads on this topic, we all know that a) almost all fatal pedestrian accidents involve fairly high speeds (at which point the hybrid status of the car is irrelevant from the standpoint of noise), and b) there has never been a blind pedestrian killed by a hybrid in the US, and c) the most common vehicle involved in a blind pedestrian death is a full-sized pickup truck.

So, we know the safety issue isn't about deaths, it's about possible additional risk of low-speed collisions. What we really want to know is: what is the actual additional risk of low-speed collision, if any, associated with hybrids? Not, at 5 MPH, is the Prius quieter than the few other cars that the National Federation for the Blind decided to test. We have a million hybrids on the road, seems like we ought to be able to discern that from the data.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is working on that. They are pooling all their accident data to see whether or not there appears to be any actual elevated risk of low-speed collision from hybrids. I'd withhold judgment on whether or not noisemakers are warranted based on whether or not they can find any excess injury rate for hybrids (after adjusting for other factors). If so, then we have something to talk about. If not, then we don't.

But presenting advocacy research, and advocacy legislation, without mentioning the link between the two, or even that the research was funded by an advocacy group ... wow. I am an economist, and I used to subscribe to The Economist, but I dropped it in the mid-90s when they started spouting party-line drivel with no analysis behind it. Seems like they have not reformed. That's a pity. The Economist used to be the only news magazine written for adults.

 

That is so 'last year' when Rosenblum made his first report. It remains as much junk science reported this year as it was last year.

Thanks anyway for the 'heads up.' I'll post my standard reference to the comments list later. <sigh>

Bob Wilson

 

Simple answer: Ban all internal combustion engines. Then the blind will be able to hear the whine of our EV electric inverters. ;-)

 

I suspect the latter had something to do with it working for them. But there is that same possibility in the U.S. as well. It happens from time to time.

I was ready to beat the driver of a vehicle that nearly killed me a few years ago. I came out of the wreckage of my truck mad as hell at his wreckless stupidity and disregard. Lucky for him his doors were jammed shut from the collision and I was unable to pry them open before my rage had subsided a little. Plus he and his idiot passenger were unbelted and had bounced off the window, so they got their beating a different way. Looked painful as there was some meat stuck in the glass, served them both right.

 

I agree, then they dropped economics for politics and it really went down hill.