Toyota Explains, Demonstrates Noisemaker coming standard in all 2012 Prius models

negative attention


and who would want to hear 10 of those in traffic with the same exact sound?

 

As if there weren't enough people out there making fun of the Prius. This will give them one more reason.

 

Congress' motto: Introduce the problem, ban the problem, forget the problem.

 

The joke is on them, they can laugh all the way to the gas station!

 

This should stop people from walking out in front of a Prius.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKI-tD0L18A"]NONONONO Cat - YouTube[/ame]

 

I can just see GM's next marketing campaign:
"Quietest cars in America"

 

I was walking down the street today and I heard a car coming slowly behind me. As she passed, I noticed it was a 2010 Prius. I could hear the car coming just like any other car, the noise of the tires on the road certainly was loud enough for me to hear it coming.

This noisemaker on the 2012 Prius is a factor in my decision to get a 2011 Prius. I usually wait for the new year models when I buy. but I don't want to pay for a noisemaker in the 2012 that I believe is unnecessary and which I don't want.

 

They're quiet enough where I pulled up behind one of the guys at work and he darn near jumped out of his shoes when he turned around and I was sitting there behind him. Probably would have been funnier if I hit the horn.

 

If you honk a stock Prius horn at anyone, they'll just laugh and feel sorry for you that you bought a car with such a wimpy sounding horn.

 

the 'nosiemaker' thing..it's just stupid. C'mon. it's just stupid. No way I'm buying a 2012 if it has that. Are u listening Toyota? Or Congress?

Again, it's just stupid. and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Where are the stats that say hybrids are too quiet and kill people? Sheesh, let's just make up crap like Fox news and create a 'solution' to a non-existing problem. Wow, are we stupid to allow this "law" to pass...

 

Agree with everything you said, except the comment about Fox news. I'm a well-educated, well-informed person, and I'm extremely skeptical about many things, especially when presented by the media. They aren't perfect, but I find Fox news distorts things much less than most other news outlets. I'm talking about the morning and daytime Fox news (especially Cavuto) which is more real news and less commentary. Except for the tabloids, I don't think any media outlet "makes up crap" (there are laws against that and huge fines if caught), but they ALL twist things slightly to favor their agenda. It's usually a case of what they choose NOT to report, rather than how they report something. I find that Fox, PBS, and CNN are slightly less guilty of this than ABC and CBS. The worst perpetrators of distorting the news and promulgating an agenda are NBC and NPR.

We both digress ... let's keep to the topic of the senseless noisemaker law and the senseless congressmen who passed it.

 

People should read the bill as passed by Congress. There is a provision for applying the measure to "conventional autos" after 48 months so that ALL cars would have this "hunchback of Notre Dame" provision applied to them. We will live in a wonderful noise-making world!!

Of course there is no penalty provision in the bill for the manufacturers or any driver should the as-built system fail to operate automatically. In addition, there's no provision saying it must operate for any specified period of time. Maybe 1/10th of a millisecond would be just fine and then a 72 hour "resting period to allow noise system regeneration"???

Our tax dollars at work, it seems, and on a stunningly stoopid idea. Note that only some of the Republicans (and no Democrats) voted "NO" so it has to go down in the lore of the Betway Bastards as a hugely political effot.

 

Here's what another blogger on a site dealing with the legislation as it was being considered by our wonderour "congressmen" had to say:

<quote>
Bob Wilson

February 23, 2009, 7:39am (report abuse) This bill repeats the mistakes of last year H.R. 5734 by making hybrid electrics sound like and as dangerous as today engine powered vehicles. However, the NHTSA accident data shows there is no hybrid hazard. This legislation compromises pedestrian safety by forcing one solution, noise makers, which current vehicles use to kill 4,700 pedestrians each year.

There are effective pedestrian safety systems such as: SAAB pedestrian radar; BMW pedestrian infared pedestrian detection camera; Denso combined radar and camera accident avoidance system; and European pedestrian safe bumpers and hoods. These engineering approaches save all pedestrians by moving beyond the failing noise of today vehicles.

Last year, the NHTSA held a hearing on this issue and the record is available: Regulations.gov - search NHTSA-2008-0108-0020 for opposition research.

Pedestrian safety is too important to let the current H.R. 734 go unchallenged. It is a life or death issue and needs real solutions.</quote>

 

dillusional is a word that comes to mind...

 

I was hoping they'd just play an audio recording of playing cards in bicycle spokes.

 

I most likely will not buy a car with a built-in noisemaker, unless it's optional.

 

Adding a noisemaker has less to do with protecting the blind as it does with protecting people who are texting while walking, or people who are distracted in some other form. I won't mind the noisemaker as long as it is quieter than the one in the Toyota video. It sure beats hitting a pedestrian or bicyclist. While there may not be any real data indicating that hybrids have killed pedestrians, it is probably safe to assume that people have walked into the path of a Prius traveling at low speeds. A pedestrian can be easily injured by Prius, all they have to do it hit their head on the ground after being struck by the vehicle at any speed. I'm a proud Prius owner, but I think if I hit a pedestrian (whether they were at fault or not), I would probably have wished I had a noisemaker. I do not want to be the guy that teaches some poor sap to pay closer attention when crossing the street or looking where he or she is going.

If the Prius was originally built with a noisemaker, this would be a non-issue, but the quietness of the Prius has become a real side benefit, with the primary benefit being the great gas mileage. As the world continues to have more smartphone distractions (text messaging, youtube videos, facebook, etc.), there will be more pedestrian accidents. This issue is not going to get better, it is going to get worse. So it is actually a wise move to outfit hybrids with noisemakers so there is one less reason to knock hybrids (expensive battery replacement, environmental impact of batteries, etc.)

As far as disabling a federally mandated safety device in a vehicle, it will probably be on the list of things to be inspected during annual state vehicle inspections. So if the wire is cut, the vehicle probably won't pass inspection. Even worse, if the vehicle had the noisemaker intentionally disabled and then a pedestrian accident occurred, it would be very difficult to live that one down. It would go something like this: (Hybrid owner) "God, the girl walked right out in front of me. (Other person) "Geez, didn't they hear the noisemaker in your car?" (Hybrid Owner) "Uh, no".

 

I'd never heard of annual state vehicle inspections until this forum. They don't exist in CA nor in WA. (I grew up in CA and also spent >9 years in WA.) I have no idea how many other states don't have them either. CA has smog checks as does some parts of WA. In CA, they aren't annual, aren't begun until your car reaches as certain age and the Prius is currently exempt.

While I was no fan of "bell the hybrid", I'm still puzzled why people are so dead set in defeating it. I already posted my opinion and experiences at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...8122-prius-vs-camry-hybrid-2.html#post1393497. No need to repeat it again. I think some folks who are dead set against it have never heard it in person (no, watching a Toyota video doesn't count) and are making a case of much adieu about nothing.

(My opinion could change if it turns out that the info was incorrect about VPNS being enabled and working on the Toyotas for test drive at GDE.)

 

Doesn't sound so bad though appears to be quite loud. I can see the benefit to it really, in parking lots people are oblivious to me because they don't use their eyes. I would DEFINITELY want to hack this, though with some different sounds. I want one with the sound looped from that hip hop song "Get out the way, get out the way"