Silent EV running & road rage

I think you just need to write it off as a one off. He was an idiot and reacted normally. Over time people will get used to silent cars and he might have acted in the same way with a quiet petrol if he had headphones in.


iPhone ?

 

#4 sounds good. Sadly, the horn is often seen as a challenge or rebuke.

Sorry for your loss.

 

My PiP had a noisemaker and no one heard it. As a matter of fact, I drove TDIs and could pull up behind people without them hearing me.

 

The US Gen 4 has a noise maker but I cannot hear mine.

It would be great if you could share exactly what you said when you "shouted something like, Watch where you are going you idiot, or something along those lines" ?

I am looking for some new material.

 

They are only noisy until 15-20MPH then goes silent so we basically face the same issue.

 

a sad commentary on the human condition. i doubt anything you could have done, or do in the future would help in a situation like that. in fact, he might have even planned it for his own amusement.

 

Sounds like LA

 

on the freeway.

 

Not your fault (except for a little culpability with the name calling). Not the car's fault. It is purely the kid's fault. Probably partly his parents, too. I suspect he was coddled. Our prisons are packed with people who were coddled "growing up" and never grew up. It's a good idea to stay out of places like that, but that stuff can happen anywhere, any time.

 

My brother's a retired cop and he told me that even with the lights and sirens going people would still walk/turn right in front of him.

 

I believe all U.S. Prii have had since Model Year 2012. And I can hear mine.

I don't know how hard it would be to install one of ours to your car, but aftermarket units (that don't shut off at a preset speed) ought to be available.

 

i can only hear mine in the garage with window down, or similar situation. wouldn't have stopped the nut job.

 

In part, that is because you are inside the car, while the noise is outside.

There are also the matters ambient noise, and degree of hearing loss. It can't be loud enough to alert everyone without causing excessive noise pollution. In my community, some railroad track fatalities have shown that even freight train horns are not loud enough to get the attention of some teens gabbing on the phone or listening to portable music players.

 

what?

 

Two stage horn?

(Probably legal and technical ramifications nixing that.)

 

I'd certainly like some additional choices -- something much softer for pedestrian and parking lot alerts, and something equivalent to a locomotive airhorn for the seriously dangerous stunt drivers.

 

Prius in EU doesn't have any noise maker. But people do not hear the Prius even when the ICE is on. It happened to me with the Gen3 multiple times. So my strategy is to keep distance, stop and wait if possible, use lightly the horn (which I am afraid will cause trouble or harm even for the reaction), and in general really be very cautious and expect that *anything* can happen unpredictably with pedestrians and bikes. They will never follow any rule or common sense, ever...

I have had instead cyclist that I approached in EV, that moved to the side simply hearing the tire rolling noise.

The problem is not the car, is how and about people go around streets. Whether pedestrians, cyclists, car riders.
A lot of people are either listening to music and don't LOOK and simply forget they can die if hit. Car drivers are checking their phones and honk at you and treat you like sh*t, because they don't monitor traffic, rather their facebook page, and are startled when they see somebody changing lane (namely me) with the blinker on since several seconds, waiting for them to give me a sign they saw me (i.e. slowing a bit down by simply stopping accelerating).

To the OP, I would say the guy would have caused trouble in any case, Prius or not. And was looking for a fight, and you unwillingly gave him motive, by telling him off. Even addressing him more politely wouldn't have changed things.

I never drive with my windows open, regardless of where I drive. The air usually stinks from the drivers preceding me, I get allergy, or it is not efficient to do so. And even more so if I were to drive in a "bad" part of town. Munich is very safe though, I don't even lock my doors.

Silent cars are not the issue: people die under trains, regular cars, trams. It happens ever more often. As it seems "people" are becoming more and more idiotic and numb, when they leave home, stick their headphones, and check Facebook. The rest of the planet doesn't exist anymore. Silent Prius or not.