Comments on: As Long as It’s the Right Sound

By: Ted King

Ted King — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:12:37 +0000

I like the idea of a moderate noise-maker. It might make it more palatable if the auditory signal were linked to a mammal (a warm, moving body that generates an electro-magnetic field) sensor. That sensor could also turn on a heart beat sound (a la ST-TOS “The Mark of Gideon”) at a low level.

Suggestion :
In a follow-up post compare the noise produced by antique cars (e.g. Stanley Steamer or Stutz Bearcat) to various modern vehicles. You might also want to include a gas-turbine type powerplant. I believe there have been experimental units produced for engineering studies.

By: Spiderleggreen

Spiderleggreen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:03:02 +0000

Yeah, for quiet cars that don’t belch smoke. I wonder how an electric Harley would do? Probably not because their goal is to be as loud as possible.

By: fred_dot_u

fred_dot_u — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:51:07 +0000

There you are, SteveL. Another person who recognizes that the responsibility lies with the operator of the vehicle, regardless of the sounds or lack of sounds it makes.

Those individuals who are suggesting to require noisemakers are apparently incapable of recognizing the need for responsibility on the roadways.

By: SteveL

SteveL — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:05:03 +0000

I have some noisy hope freewheels on my bike; their clickety sound acts as a cue to pedestrians that a bike is coming and tends to reduce the #of people who step out in front of me. But still they do, especially on wet days, when people are running round, wearing hoods or holding umbrellas. I can deal with this by predicting it and staying below 15mph in town. Maybe the issue with hybrids is not the fact that they are silent, but that they are still driven round cities at the wrong speeds.

By: Colin

Colin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:18:11 +0000

If silent cars become more popular, my life as a cyclist will become safer as pedestrians will be less likely to step off the footpath straight into my path without looking.

Cyclists are silent and travel at similar speeds to that of a “low-speed” car. And yet nobody is saying that cyclists should make a constant noise to warn others, perhaps because in a collision with a pedestrian the cyclist is as likely (perhaps more likely) to be hurt than the pedestrian. In other words, the cyclist is motivated to avoid collisions with pedestrians, whereas motorists are not.

By: fred_dot_u

fred_dot_u — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:48:43 +0000

I won’t argue for a moment that my comments are unrealistic. I don’t necessarily agree that noise being added to the environment is an answer, however. Recognizing that driver inattention is a problem on the roads appears to be a major stumbling block to all road user safety.

A curiously well-timed blog entry, as only yesterday, Daytona Beach, FL had an enforcement action “event” supportive of blind walkers. The local paper reported that one driver was stopped by police for not stopping for the crossing blind. Unfortunately, one small article in the paper is unlikely to change much.

As a commuting cyclist, I have “empowered” myself to deal with inattentive drivers. It’s called FL Statutes that support lane positioning for the cyclist. Part of my own empowerment was taking two LAB classes for cyclists and learning, even after more than 50 years of riding that there are safer ways to ride.

Educating drivers apparently is considered impossible by many, but educating drivers is really a good part of the solution.

By: Reid

Reid — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:28:04 +0000

Fred,

I agree that driver inattention is a huge problem and kills people. But it’s not going away anytime soon if ever. “stop allowing them to drive” is unrealistic.

Thus, it is critical that we give our most vulnerable modes (peds and cyclists) the tools to detect (and thus avoid) oncoming danger.

After all, they have the strongest incentive to avoid collisions with autos; let’s empower them to do so.

By: Yokota Fritz

Yokota Fritz — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:14:22 +0000

I _like_ quiet streets — please no added noise!

Traffic noise pollution adds to chronic stress leading to heart disease and high blood pressure. Loud pipes (and trucks and cars) do NOT save lives!

By: fred_dot_u

fred_dot_u — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:05:05 +0000

Thanks for your supportive words, George. Unfortunately, I feel I’ve left out something important. It’s not only the driver, but also the societal development that allows most drivers to avoid the recognition that it is the driver at the root of all this. Of course, if a driver does recognize that the answer is not noise-makers, air bags, roll-over protection, crash-surviveability and does recognize that it’s the driver, that recognition is usually described as “the other driver(s)” and not necessarily the driver in the spotlight, so to speak.

Just my opinion, your mileage may vary. California mileage may be less.

By: George

George — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:26:59 +0000

As a cyclist and walker I would rather be on a road of all electic cars rather than to smell and inhale the ICE exhausts(and unburned fuel when some driver accelerate in excess when passing me).

I am all for quiet roads.

I agree with ‘fred_dot_u’ the problem is the driver.