Electric cars - silence is deadly?

all i can imagine after reading this thread are roads filled with electric cars trailing ice cream van-esk music....haha.

I generally don't have a problem with electric cars as I tend to use my eyes a lot more than my ears. Bad drivers, however, are bad drivers and it doesn't really matter what you're driving to be one. I do see (or hear rather) the point about it being hard to work out how quickly an electric car approaches as you only really hear them in the last minute. I know this from experience and quickly learnt it's better to eliminate any doubt by just using your eyes. So no real beef there. Electric motorbikes/scooters in bus lanes I have a problem with though...

Ed?

Ed hasn't been killed yet so I reckon all should be well.

I think cars should make noises like the ships in the Jetsons as we move steadily into the future.

Brrrdiododiododiodoidoddidooooooo

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjy-fnsmWR4"]YouTube
- The Jetsons Tv Intro.[/ame]

i want my electric car to play the benny hill music.

is the EU going to mandate the fitting of fully sick car audio systems with fully sick subwoofers to all electric cars? that would be fully sick, bro.

Somewhere there is a forum full of pedestrians complaining about these new-fangled "fixed" bikes ... "They're bloody silent I tell you! Zip right past and you never even hear them. Just the sound of rubber on the asphalt. One almost took my nose off this morning when I went to cross the road..."

This years IOM TT sees the first ever electric powered bike race. They will all be fitted with speakers and have to play loud engine noises for safety reasons.
We did this as kids with pop cartons.

Electric car drivers should have to employ a man to walk along in front of them with a red flag to warn other motorists. I know it was on the front of all your minds; I said it.

surely it would make sense for pedestrians to not step out into ROADs without looking.. radical thinking but it might just work

I can't decide if looking left before stepping on the road then looking right is worse than not looking at all.

i carry a small mirror and use that to help me look to the left and right at the same time.

its a known fact that if you are shouting into your mobile phone or typing a text message when you step out into traffic motor vehicles cannot hit you

Yes i've heard that certain mobile phones actually emit a protective force field whilst you talk on them, which makes you impervious to injury as a pedestrian..... apparently.

It's no surprise that deaf people are actually better drivers than hearing people, they spend more time looking than listening (according to a research in America).

Anyway, on a serious note; what's the problem here? There isn't one, the only problem is simply people relying on their ears to the point that they trust their life with it, which frankly is stupid, if you want to survived, use both your eyes and ears instead, like other said about crossing the road, look before you cross.

Same concept go to cycling, you shouldn't just rely on your ears, as sound can be misjudged, look over your shoulder instead of listening, look at the junction properly instead of listening for tell tale sounds of motorised vehicle, etc.

When cycling we rely so much on sound

There's your mistake, you rely on your ears instead of your eyes, problem solved.

don't you feel daft spending age writing this topic now?

Haha, straight to the point as always Ed! I think you hit the nail on the head though mate, my hearing is no where near as bad as yours, but its not great, and its difficult for me to distinguish individual sounds amongst heavy background noise.
Hence I ride very much the same as you on the roads in terms of my awareness, I rely almost entirely on what I see, which is how it should be.

Yes, electric cars are going to take some getting used to. They make less noise, but they make a different kind of noise. The most important thing is that you are looking before you move left or right (even the littlest bit), you never know when you'll have a grumpy american on the worlds quietest road bike next to you.

A ped stepping in front of a G Whiz is unlikely to even notice they've been hit.

But the occupants of the G-Wiz will be instantly killed as their 'car' crumples into bits.

i want my electric car to play the benny hill music.

is the EU going to mandate the fitting of fully sick car audio systems with fully sick subwoofers to all electric cars? that would be fully sick, bro.

http://james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier/?id=JtGp8Sha_mA

Electric cars, especially the very small cars, are basically greenwash and a major strategic policy mistake, about on a par with Seventies promises that smaller cars would 'ease congestion'--more units were sold, and the exact opposite happened.

It's no surprise that deaf people are actually better drivers than hearing people, they spend more time looking than listening (according to a research in America).

Not only that, but they are probably quite generally more careful, partly owing to often being discriminated against and having to be on their guard.

Anyway, on a serious note; what's the problem here? There isn't one, the only problem is simply people relying on their ears to the point that they trust their life with it, which frankly is stupid, if you want to survived, use both your eyes and ears instead, like other said about crossing the road, look before you cross.

Same concept go to cycling, you shouldn't just rely on your ears, as sound can be misjudged, look over your shoulder instead of listening, look at the junction properly instead of listening for tell tale sounds of motorised vehicle, etc.

There's your mistake, you rely on your ears instead of your eyes, problem solved.

Very true. The problem is that hearing people have got used to the ugly noise that cars make and often navigate by this. In that respect, the proliferation of more silent cars could actually have a beneficial effect, as people got used to using their ears more. However, it is the case quite irrespective of the existence of cars that different people tend to use different senses more than others. Some will look more (even if not d/Deaf), some will listen more. Eye contact in traffic is much more important than listening.

Electric cars, especially the very small cars, are basically greenwash and a major strategic policy mistake, about on a par with Seventies promises that smaller cars would 'ease congestion'--more units were sold, and the exact opposite happened.
Very true. The problem is that hearing people have got used to the ugly noise that cars make and often navigate by this. In that respect, the proliferation of more silent cars could actually have a beneficial effect, as people got used to using their ears more. However, it is the case quite irrespective of the existence of cars that different people tend to use different senses more than others. Some will look more (even if not d/Deaf), some will listen more. Eye contact in traffic is much more important than listening.

+1

Eyes are smashing things, batteries (having an energy density less than that of wood FFS) are rather less smashing.

It's no surprise that deaf people are actually better drivers than hearing people, they spend more time looking than listening (according to a research in America).

Blind drivers, however, pretty much suck.

Wouldn't it be great if all the vehicles on the road were completly sillent? To walk down the road and be able to have a conversation without shouting above the noise of engines...

Just the gentle sound of my bb squeaking...

Note, I'm not surpised that deaf drivers are better than american drivers, I think blind one's might be too...

Wouldn't it be great if all the vehicles on the road were completly sillent? To walk down the road and be able to have a conversation without shouting above the noise of engines...

Just the gentle sound of my bb squeaking...

That would be bliss. There are really very few places in Britain where you can go and not be able to hear the noise of cars or motorbikes.

there not silent
you can here there tyres making that shhing sound (hard to describe the sound) as they make contact with the road
as long as you havent got earphone in ther you alright

There's your mistake, you rely on your ears instead of your eyes, problem solved.

If you read my thread I never mention that I have had a problem with electrics; merely speculate that there could be problems and wanted to find out the experiences and opinions of others. Experienced cyclists use both sight and sound but the way sound contributes to staying safe and the general cycling experience is likely to change in the years to come.

don't you feel daft spending age writing this topic now?

no, why should i?

wanted to find out the experiences and opinions of others.

in that case, I've seen loads of them, they aren't a problem.

Experienced cyclists use both sight and sound but the way sound contributes to staying safe and the general cycling experience is likely to change in the years to come.

I disagree, since I had a crash with another cyclist (who was relying on his sense of hearing to warn him of vehicles behind him) I think to rely on sound at all is dangerous.

Always look... look, look and look again.

I'd say it was the less experienced cyclists who reply on their hearing at all.

If you read my thread I never mention that I have had a problem with electrics; merely speculate that there could be problems and wanted to find out the experiences and opinions of others. Experienced cyclists use both sight and sound but the way sound contributes to staying safe and the general cycling experience is likely to change in the years to come.

There isn't a problem in the first place, just with the people deciding to rely on their ears as their primary sense.

experience cyclists rely on their eyes more than their ears, I neve use my hearing at all.