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Pedestrians 'twice as likely' to be hit by an electric or hybrid-electric car
- Dalewyn 2y agoFamily having owned a Nissan Leaf and otherwise bearing witness to EVs and hybrids in motor-only mode, I feel like the noise they generate to try and alert nearby people are badly designed for two big reasons: * The noise is very high pitched. Older people simply aren't going to hear it as their hearing naturally degrades. * The noise is not at all the sounds from an engine. That EV alert noise is throwing away entire lifetimes' worth of training to be wary of nearby engines noises and sirens. People meme often about EVs pumping out engine noises over the interior stereo system, but honestly that should be played extra loud on the outside for all to hear.
- pavel_lishin 2y agoWe have a hybrid car, and I don't think it makes any extraneous noise at all while driving on battery, other than the standard electric motor noise.
- longitudinal93 2y agoI think he's referring to the noise automakers were forced to add to be broadcast anytime the car is moving at less than 30km/hr. This happened in 2020.
- scotty79 2y agoToo bad they just didn't mandate automatic breaks. At this speed automatic breaking when the car is about to hit something should be easy and safe. At 30km/h breaking distance is just 5m and that's taking into account slow human reflexes. Machine should be able to detect anything within that range and break soon and hard to reduce it even further.
- fragmede 2y agoPedestrian AEB will be standard on all passenger cars and light trucks by September 2029.
- makeitdouble 2y ago> The noise is not at all the sounds from an engine. One reason is of course that engine noise is the bane of many neighborhoods and not a sound they want to keep hearing for centuries. Noise pollution has been taken way more seriously in recent years and we sure need to find a balance with security in cases like this.
- SkyPuncher 2y agoThe electric noise on my vehicle is far worse than the engine noise.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- asynchronous 2y agoThis is objectively false. Source: I have ears and hate living near freeways.
- echoangle 2y agoI don’t think that’s how the word “objectively” works. Was this a joke?
- orwin 2y agoNo, he's right. At low speed it's a wash, let's say the EV sound is worst (really depends on the ICE here, but let's assume luxury brand with recognizable motor noise). At medium to high speed? there is no comparisons, ICE are way louder.
- SkyPuncher 2y agoI live on a 45 mph road. Yes, there are large trucks that are loud, but nearly all of the noise comes from the tires.
- 2y ago
- dsq 2y agoWalking to my own car, just before I passed in front of a Toyota Corolla hybrid it began to silently move two steps in front of me. While nothing actually happened, it was jarring and scary. If i had walked faster I might have been clipped or had my foot run over (not to diss Corolla specifically, it could have been any other silently running vehicle).
- dsq 2y agoI think another problem with the artificial noise is that one hears it only when the vehicle has started moving. Before that it is completely silent and gives no advance warning to the nearby pedestrian like an ICE car does.
- spdustin 2y agoPartially true; my previous car, a Honda CR-V hybrid, played its "choir" sound once it was shifted out of park; if you were at a standstill, it would still play.
- asynchronous 2y agoI can verify Teslas do this as soon as they’re shifted into reverse at least
- doubleg72 2y agoMy F150 PB makes a hum whenever in gear
- scblock 2y agoThe problem is drivers, every single time. DRIVERS hit pedestrians. If a pedestrian avoids it because they hear a motor that's a NEAR MISS that STILL needs to be addressed by drivers. Drivers have all the responsibility. This is not an electric car problem. This is a DRIVER problem. And needs to be addressed from that perspective. Just yesterday I was nearly hit by two drivers. One turning right on a full red who didn't slow down any more than they would on a green light. I was in the crosswalk. Then a driver turning right at a stop sign who didn't even look to their right. I was in the crosswalk. Don't talk to me about TECHNOLOGY. Tell me how we fix DRIVING.
- hindsightbias 2y agorobotaxis equipped with cowbells. Problem solved.
- prepend 2y agoRobotaxis will fix this problem as they just won’t hit pedestrians as much because they’ll check for pedestrians.
- emodendroket 2y agoSo far that prediction hasn’t borne out.
- prepend 2y agoRobotaxis hit far fewer pedestrians per mile than human driven cars.
- emodendroket 2y agoI see this asserted often but the serious attempts to tabulate it I've seen showed the opposite.
- TheCleric 2y ago
- rightbyte 2y agoI wonder how much this is due to standstill to moving accidents. The speaker noise should be active will the car is started. It sounds like it is off.
- iwanttocomment 2y agoI own an early full-size PHEV that has no noisemaker. It is a surprisingly large sedan that, even today, people are surprised to discover gliding silently on the road behind them. I cannot tell you how many times, while being fully alert and creeping at low and safe speeds that people walking in the middle of the road or in a garage have suddenly become shocked - SHOCKED - that there had been a full-size sedan rolling silently behind them. My other option is honking, which will startle them - perhaps, to their death.
- parineum 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- abracadaniel 2y agoStudy is from data “between 2013 and 2017” when the audio warning was not mandated until 2019.
- aitchnyu 2y agoDid anybody consider projecting an image on the ground using lasers? I prefer night time for crazy narrow roads in India since I can see headlights at a bend.
- appplication 2y agoThis is a unique idea but still feels like sound is a whole lot simpler.