Round here they seem to have two maybe three different 'tones' they can switch between (or it happens automatically)?
You have the electronic form of 'Neee narrr', an American wailing up / down siren and something that sounds more like a bird scarer (that might be the sound you are talking about)?
Cheers, T i m
Though actually most car drivers would be very irritated indeed if people overtook them and immediately braked in front of them to turn left. Why should cyclists be treated less favourably in this respect?
That sounds more like an 'Electrically assisted cycle' than a moped?
"Swedish ( trampcykel med ) mo(tor och ) ped(aler ) pedal cycle with engine and pedals."
And along with a max speed of 30 mph, was the definition of a moped over here for a long time (now lost the requirement for pedals).
So, if not an 'electrically assisted cycle', I'm wondering if there is there is an equivalent categorisation for an electric moped, or would it just be an 'electric motorcycle'?
Cheers, T i m
I believe the rules are already in place- our hybrid has a 'warning' system. You can turn it off but I don't, the car is very quite when on electric and (especially if approaching them from behind) a pedestrian may not hear it.
Might depend on speed - also tyre noise can get lost in all the other general 'white' sounds. T'other day there was a Tesla coming into the village; reasonable road, car doing about 25 or so. Not sure about 'engine noise' as the tyres made so much row. Big tyres are very loud - a big Beamer at about 40 was drowning everything else. Noise made should include all sounds under the worst circumstances and then be limited so that people can talk easily.
I've always worked on the principle that a clear road is also silent - using hearing doesn't tell me that it is there. I was crossing a road where there was one stationary car to my left, on the far side. No engine running, that I could hear. As I got in front of it it moved forward, still no noise. It waited 'til I'd crossed then accelerated - still silent up to about 10mph, then the tyres became audible and there was the slightest whine. No good for a blind person!
I have had an electric car for years. They are already fitted with noise things.
Is that only when in motion? What about traffic lights? If all the vehicles made a warning sound anyone living near traffic lights would go crazy.
I don't know about other EV's, but the Renault Zoe we have makes this sound, which tone is proportional to speed - between 1 and 18 mph. Tyre noise then takes over.
There is a big difference between cutting someone up by passing them and immediately turning and having someone attempt to pass you on the left when you are waiting at lights and altrady indicating left.
SteveW
It's been in place for years and I have often heard it. However, it is only one of the numerous settings that emergency vehicles have for their sirens and so may not be the selected option much of the time.
SteveW
Max Demian was thinking very hard :
Around here it has..
If they simply make the sound of an engine, no one wil notice the difference as we switch to electric cars and of course everyone has been brought up from a very young age to associate engine sounds with approaching danger. We should not allow manufacturers to choose a variety of non-engine sounds, as we are all programmed to recognise engines and may either not react to another sound or may react to every sound whether a vehicle or not.
SteveW
Oddly, its high frequencies that are easier to locate.
they used to call trolley buses "the silent death" after people were used to trams ......
But not far and not through car windows.
Not as far as I know, I don't even think hey have to have lights or brakes either. Its up to the owner to make sure that they comply when they put them on the road. Mind you the electric vehicles are supposed to be being made with a sound that they output under a certain speed, but the idiots have made it able to be turned off, and no legislation for existing vehicles. Having said all of that the most irresponsible of people are a few of those using mobility vehicles, the ones you sit in and you find parked across footways near shops or charging down the road laden with shopping bags.
Brian
I think the sound of the tyres is audible in quiet places and at faster speeds, its slow speed in a town crammed with noisier vehicles that you need a sound really. After all even a slow speed collision is going to be very bad for an elderly person. One has to remember that there are a lot of people who have hearing impairments out there. I'd also like to see designers of towns make abundantly clear via signage for a driver that the raised tables being fitted at the entrances to side roads are giving pedestrians priority over vehicles. There have been a lot of nasty accidents where people with poor sight have been run down. The current law says that it is up to the driver and pedestrian to make eye contact with each other and negotiate who has right of way. That is completely stupid in my view so many people have poor sight and a busy parent and children trying run about is a recipe for disaster if its not clarified. Brian
Yes we used to use an old bit of plastic like an evo stick spreader for that!
One other problem which hopefully will be gotten rid of is the shared space ethos where the idea is that drivers are going to go slowly as there are pedestrians everywhere. It does not work, what actually occurs is that the aggressive driver simply intimidates pedestrians and everyone else and treats the whole thing as a road. Maybe we are just not as obedient as the Dutch and the Scandinavians where this idea started or more likely, people just avoid such places like the plague if they are on foot. Another way to kill off the high street. If you want to see mayhem, go to Exhibition Road in London. I used to enjoy going to the museums there, but many people tell me they cannot go on their own, they need to be mob handed to get any hope of not being either left standing on the sidelines or mowed down by a truck. Whose bright idea was that? Brian
The noise generator was more usually fashioned from a scrap of cereal packet.
Chris
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