6 ms·

I think you’re focusing on the wrong issue here. Engine noise nowadays is a lot less of a problem than tire noise, especially with cars going 50km/h+. Some car

I think you’re focusing on the wrong issue here. Engine noise nowadays is a lot less of a problem than tire noise, especially with cars going 50km/h+. Some cars are loud because people want them to be, most cars are loud because the noise the tires make when driving is loud, and that only gets worse the more cars you have around.

djaychela 3y ago
Not my experience. I live next to a 40mph dual carriageway which is an arterial route. The road noise is pretty much constant, and I don't find it that disturbing (although my recently-moved-in partner differs on this). What is disturbing to everyone is the sound of loud-exhaust boyed up sheds which drive past pretty much every day. There's one guy who has made his car backfire, and does this pretty much every time he drives past, at around 11pm each night. Incredibly annoying, selfish behaviour.
pdimitar 3y ago
IMO you are both right at the same time, there were even studies published here on HN saying that background far-away engine noise is very harmful for the humans when we're exposed to it for prolonged periods of time.
globular-toast 3y ago
It's not that simple. Tyre noise produces a roughly "white noise" profile. This kind of noise is easy to attenuate using physical barriers and people can sleep with it (some people even sleep better with it). It only takes one engine in a thousand to drown out everything else. They are specifically designed to produce a "note" and explosions which are highly irregular and impossible to not hear. Loud engines should be repaired if possible and destroyed if not. But total road noise should also be taken into account and accounted for with increased vehicle tax.
Mawr 3y ago
There's a key relationship you're missing here. The closer a car is to humans, the slower it will drive. The slower it drives, the more important engine noise is. A car going 50km/h+ is on some sort of a highway, where noise and pollution are less relevant. It's the cars going <50km/h on residential streets that cause problems. Empirically, engine noise dominates then. The difference between ICEs and EVs passing by is staggeringly obvious.
- thsksbd 3y ago
  >50 km/hr inside cities is very common nowadays, especially in N. america. I attribute it to two factors: - wide streets - modern cars' excellent isolation from the external environment. You don't hear the speed. You don't feel the speed. You feel all snuggled, safe and tight (seatbelts).
  - Mawr 3y ago
    It's the stroads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzNZUeUHAM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzNZUeUHAM ("Stroads are Ugly, Expensive, and Dangerous (and they're everywhere) [ST05]") Turns out when you design a road for high-speed driving, people will drive fast on it.
ApolloFortyNine 3y ago
My experience is the same as other commenter's, standard road noise is basically white noise, the people with loud cars (I'm not a car guy, but probably messing with the exhaust in some way?) is what you notice. The worst offenders are even louder than a fully loaded dump truck.
aequitas 3y ago
> Engine noise nowadays is a lot less of a problem than tire noise, especially with cars going 50km/h+ True, I live next to a 60km/h road (so everyone drives 80km/h at least) and I have been noticing that EV's are just as loud as ICE cars. The only difference is the ICE's have an additional tone to them, but that doesn't make them much louder to me, just different. However the real issue is motorbikes and mopeds which don't have any exhaust dampening (or removed it).
wan23 3y ago
I live next to a large road in NYC and for me the cars that are loud intentionally are by far the biggest problem when it comes to noise, followed by sirens and horns. The things that are designed to be noticed are the most noticeable.
- NovemberWhiskey 3y ago
  I also live in NYC: typical vehicle traffic is background white-noise. I absolutely agree that the major disruptive noise sources from cars are sirens, horns, alarms and obviously-illegal exhaust modifications.
rektide 3y ago
There are zero cars making disruptive tire nosie at 2:00am in my neighborhood. Actually, wait, there is one asshole on a scooter who locks his wheels & creates incredible shrieking horror "omg an accident is happening" sounds at every intersection he stops at. But that too is not regular tire noise, it's another boy child antisocial asshole. There's different situations. Sometimes yes tire noise is an issue. The video has one of my favorite bits, 'why did this not take off? Because car makers are assholes' or some such. The aggregate noise can be a problem. But I think the video is spot on. Car drivers don't have any conception of how fucking obnoxious to hundreds of people it is that they blow their horn. They love shitty preening pathetic loud cars. It's only like 10% of them, but those 10% of car drivers are anti social assholes with enormous ability to make life much worse for everyone. And most societies have almost no restraints, no ability to create counter pressures against the anti-social.

djaychela 3y ago

Not my experience. I live next to a 40mph dual carriageway which is an arterial route. The road noise is pretty much constant, and I don't find it that disturbing (although my recently-moved-in partner differs on this). What is disturbing to everyone is the sound of loud-exhaust boyed up sheds which drive past pretty much every day. There's one guy who has made his car backfire, and does this pretty much every time he drives past, at around 11pm each night. Incredibly annoying, selfish behaviour.

pdimitar 3y ago

IMO you are both right at the same time, there were even studies published here on HN saying that background far-away engine noise is very harmful for the humans when we're exposed to it for prolonged periods of time.

globular-toast 3y ago

It's not that simple. Tyre noise produces a roughly "white noise" profile. This kind of noise is easy to attenuate using physical barriers and people can sleep with it (some people even sleep better with it). It only takes one engine in a thousand to drown out everything else. They are specifically designed to produce a "note" and explosions which are highly irregular and impossible to not hear. Loud engines should be repaired if possible and destroyed if not. But total road noise should also be taken into account and accounted for with increased vehicle tax.

Mawr 3y ago

There's a key relationship you're missing here. The closer a car is to humans, the slower it will drive. The slower it drives, the more important engine noise is. A car going 50km/h+ is on some sort of a highway, where noise and pollution are less relevant. It's the cars going <50km/h on residential streets that cause problems. Empirically, engine noise dominates then. The difference between ICEs and EVs passing by is staggeringly obvious.

thsksbd 3y ago
>50 km/hr inside cities is very common nowadays, especially in N. america. I attribute it to two factors: - wide streets - modern cars' excellent isolation from the external environment. You don't hear the speed. You don't feel the speed. You feel all snuggled, safe and tight (seatbelts).
- Mawr 3y ago
  It's the stroads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzNZUeUHAM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzNZUeUHAM ("Stroads are Ugly, Expensive, and Dangerous (and they're everywhere) [ST05]") Turns out when you design a road for high-speed driving, people will drive fast on it.

ApolloFortyNine 3y ago

My experience is the same as other commenter's, standard road noise is basically white noise, the people with loud cars (I'm not a car guy, but probably messing with the exhaust in some way?) is what you notice. The worst offenders are even louder than a fully loaded dump truck.

aequitas 3y ago

> Engine noise nowadays is a lot less of a problem than tire noise, especially with cars going 50km/h+ True, I live next to a 60km/h road (so everyone drives 80km/h at least) and I have been noticing that EV's are just as loud as ICE cars. The only difference is the ICE's have an additional tone to them, but that doesn't make them much louder to me, just different. However the real issue is motorbikes and mopeds which don't have any exhaust dampening (or removed it).

wan23 3y ago

I live next to a large road in NYC and for me the cars that are loud intentionally are by far the biggest problem when it comes to noise, followed by sirens and horns. The things that are designed to be noticed are the most noticeable.

NovemberWhiskey 3y ago
I also live in NYC: typical vehicle traffic is background white-noise. I absolutely agree that the major disruptive noise sources from cars are sirens, horns, alarms and obviously-illegal exhaust modifications.

rektide 3y ago

There are zero cars making disruptive tire nosie at 2:00am in my neighborhood. Actually, wait, there is one asshole on a scooter who locks his wheels & creates incredible shrieking horror "omg an accident is happening" sounds at every intersection he stops at. But that too is not regular tire noise, it's another boy child antisocial asshole. There's different situations. Sometimes yes tire noise is an issue. The video has one of my favorite bits, 'why did this not take off? Because car makers are assholes' or some such. The aggregate noise can be a problem. But I think the video is spot on. Car drivers don't have any conception of how fucking obnoxious to hundreds of people it is that they blow their horn. They love shitty preening pathetic loud cars. It's only like 10% of them, but those 10% of car drivers are anti social assholes with enormous ability to make life much worse for everyone. And most societies have almost no restraints, no ability to create counter pressures against the anti-social.