Should Hybrid Cars Make Noise to Protect the Blind?

[Swallowed_My_Cellphone]

@Cervaise

My electric car will go “MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW.”

I bow before your brilliance.

[Beware_of_Doug]

1. Offer aftermarket wire wheels.
2. Include clothes pins and playing cards.
3. Profit!

[NinjaChick]

Is this really an issue? I can imagine a problem if a completely blind person is trying to cross a street, and they’re unaided (no guide dog and/or companion), and there’s no one else around to warn them, and there are no non-hybrid cars to provide aural clues, and they’re not at a traffic light, and the driver of the hybrid isn’t paying attention.

I don’t know, but that seems like it’s not a particularly pressing issue.

[ouryL]

@Magiver

[I think the title says it all.](Should Hybrid Cars Make Noise to Protect the Blind?) IMO, Hybrids are not just dangerous to the blind but to anyone who can hear. A friend of mine almost hit a jogger who bolted in front of his Escape hybrid because she didn’t hear him driving up behind her. I saw the same thing on the local news today. As these cars become more popular I expect quite of few accidents. Yes, it’s the responsibility to look before you leap but it’s human nature to establish a sense of what is around us based on both sight and sound.

What say you? If the answer is yes then what kind of noise would it be. I say yes and would like it to be something pleasant versus irritating (but it needs to be distinct).

Since many joggers use an iPod or equivalent, a louder car is moot.

[Bricker]

My mother is blind (macular degeneration) more than once she’s mentioned that she has no trouble hearing ordinary cars, but has been surprised by more silenmt cars – which, according to her and others, have been electric.

So:

@NinjaChick

Is this really an issue? I can imagine a problem if a completely blind person is trying to cross a street, and they’re unaided (no guide dog and/or companion), and there’s no one else around to warn them, and there are no non-hybrid cars to provide aural clues, and they’re not at a traffic light, and the driver of the hybrid isn’t paying attention.

I don’t know, but that seems like it’s not a particularly pressing issue.

…according to my Mom, it’s a pressing issue.

[Chimera]

@Bricker

…according to my Mom, it’s a pressing issue.

Which to me is about as pressing as making sure the toilet seat is down. In both circumstances, the ideal situation is LOOK FIRST.

Doesn’t matter how loud or silent the vehicle is. Heck, it may be an 80,000 pound semi coasting down the road after it’s engine died rather than a hybrid running on batteries, in which case ‘not looking’ is potentially a lot more fatal.

“Look before you leap” applies to roads and toilet seats as well as jumps.

[Frank]

This one was here first. I considered merging them, but they’re so long it would only make things really strange.

Sorry, closed.