OT: electric cars (one for Brian?)

I do agree. It amazes me how some manufacturers are treating this like ringtones on your phone. Your connected electric car with its geo controlled top speed governogovernedr will not doubt have special played for sounds from the google car store. Another piece of useless tech recently introduced though is a bike light which projects the outline of a bike on the road in front of it. I just wonder, even if this works how many drivers will be so fascinated at this that they inadvertently run over the cyclist or a pedestrian?

I know there is not a foolproof answer to all of this, but sadly there does appear to be people willing to make money out of dubious safety gear. Yes electric cars need to be heard but lets not go bonkers and have silly sounds. Brian

Thanks. My original question - which was not a facetious one - was whether the engine sound needs to be heard, as it seems to me at the moment the sound of the tyres on the road is more noticeable at a distance than the sound of the engine.

Are you sure? Rule 170 says 'Watch out for pedestrians crossing a road into which you are turning. If they have started to cross they have priority, so give way'. This must be one of the most disregarded rules in the Highway Code along with the ban on parking in cycle lanes. .

Not oddly. It is a recognised fact, which is why surround sound systems can use a singe bass speaker as you cannot tell where bass is coming from. It is also why joint stereo on DAB does not separate the low frequency sounds.

Now found your earlier posting.

For me it was a (duplicate) 'Tea card', probably from PG Tips or similar. ;-)

However, like taking the baffles out of my moped exhaust it was something I only did for a day (as I couldn't stand the noise and in the case of the 2/ moped, the drop in performance).

Similar story when we built the kitcar. I bought the factory stainless exhaust system that was much louder than I like, so after a couple of weeks, took it of and replaced it with a 'stock' (not 'performance' or 'sport') ss Mk2 Escort (Grundy?) system (and 30+ years later, it's still on there). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

But only at speed - hence why the required sound generators are set to turn off as the vehicle gains speed. It is when electric vehicles are moving slowly in traffic, around a car park, stopping or starting at lights, etc. that an artifical sound is required, as the natural sounds are so quiet that they are unnoticeable against background noise.

SteveW

Thanks. I understand better now. No sound generators on the M6.

This may come as a disappointment to residents hoping that electric cars will cut down on noise pollution as well as air pollution, but I suppose safety has to come first.

Or on normal roads once they gain speed. The cut-off point is just 12mph.

It will be quieter except on high-speed roads, as there will be no engine or exhaust noise waiting at lights or added to tyre and wind noise above 12mph. I suppose it may also make sense for the sound to only be projected forward (or backward when reversing), so cutting out maybe 270° of projection.

SteveW

That's not the worst of it. I've had elderly people in mobility scooters drive full-tilt into me (either going forwards or backwards) in the aisle of a supermarket. And it damn-well hurts: one time I had a huge bruise on my thigh for several days after. Some people are really not safe in charge of

The worst is that *I* am the one who gets the blame - "why did you get in my way?" ("No, you drove into me without seeing me").

The reason why shared space is fundamentally wrong in my experience is that there is no *one* road user who has defined priority over all others - in normal roads, either cars have priority over pedestrians (the default situation) or else pedestrians have priority over vehicles at designated places (zebra crossings, pelican crossings). But to make everyone equal means that cars have to drive at an absurdly low speed everywhere that there is someone who *might* cross and who might step into the road without even stopping and checking whether there is a vehicle close with whom you need to establish eye contact for the driver to communicate "I have priority over you, but I will let you cross".

I'm only talking about stopping to let a person cross who hasn't yet stated; if a person has already started to cross and looks as if they won't step back onto the kerb, I will move heaven and earth to stop, irrespective of who has priority, and that is why 30 mph or even 20 mph limits exist, to allow for that situation, of unplanned stops.

If a car does stop to let a blind person cross (as shown by their white stick and/or guide dog) what is the preferred method of the driver letting the pedestrian know that he is stopping or has stopped? Should I (the driver) do nothing and let the blind person work out by the absence of the noise of my car that I have stopped? With a sighted person, I'd probably flash my headlights - OK, that can be confusing because it is official a visible version f the horn, ie a warning, but it had become a de facto standard.

Or the cards that you got in cigarettes and some packets of sweets (including cylindrical sweets with a red end that looked like cigarettes!), and they were often held onto the front forks with a clothes peg. Been there, done that, felt a right prat when the clothes peg came off and got fouled in the spokes.

As long as - as someone said - it cannot be customised. I have heard suggestions to use the sound of a Paxman Valenta engine of a High Speed Train. Someone will no doubt want a steam engine sound, or even a sonic boom, or Formula 1. .

Try hitting a pedestrian and then find out who has priority.

Whats wrong with winding the window down and telling them?

Yes.

When my neighbour drives away in his New Corolla hybrid you can hardly hear it.

However, modern cars should be able to detect pedestrians and automatically activate and deactivate this.

I think you should be able to choose the noise.

Clippity-Clop sounds of a trotting horse would be quite good.

Yesterday I had to jump out of the way of an electrci mobility 'scooter' that was belting along the pavement at quite a speed, much faster than I could run at.

It was being driven by someone in his 30's, not the usual age group you would expect.

Illegal then, pavement scooters must be limited to 4mph max.

Road scooters can go faster but I think 15 mph is the upper limit.

I think you will find that is exactly the design concept. If you take away the idea of 'priority' everyone has to take care.

AK47 would be far more effective.