Death to pedestrians!

[BerkeleyBowlt]

EV's or PHEV's DO NOT KILL OR INJURE PEOPLE more often than gasoline and diesel vehicles. FACT.

Can you share what source you're using for this?

I ask because the Wikipedia page about electric vehicle sounds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds) has quite a few links saying things like "The study found that a HEV was two times more likely to be involved in a pedestrian crash than was a conventional ICE vehicle when a vehicle is slowing or stopping, backing up, or entering or leaving a parking space", and "The NHTSA study also concluded that the incidence rate of bicyclist crashes involving HEVs for the same kind of maneuvers was significantly higher when compared to conventional vehicles".

If you say some lawyer will try to place blame on me after an accident without noise makers, I have no fear. My lawyer will prove the pedestrian acted unsafe, illegally, was drunk, on drugs, without sleep, listening to ear pods, reading a text message, chewing gum, and trying to walk at the same time. The odds are HUGELY stacked in my favor.

I'm imagining a lawyer for a dead five-year-old child telling a jury "little Johnny wouldn't have run in the street chasing the ball from between those vans if he'd heard Mr. G's car.... and he would have heard it, if Mr. G. hadn't intentionally disabled the very feature that General Motors engineers designed to protect children." It seems to me the only thing your lawyer will be doing is trying to get your sentence reduced from eight years to four, no matter how unsafe the child acted.

Obviously we disagree, though. I could be wrong. *shrug* Personally I'm glad my Bolt makes a noise that people might use to avoid me.

 

[sgt1372]

Funny. Didn't even notice the "noise" b4 I read this thread and couldn't stop hearing it after I did.

It's not really noticeable from inside the car, especially if you have the radio on, but I decided to remove the fuse and like it quiet better.

 

[CGameProgrammer]

Bicycles do not have a pedestrian warning sound and they move faster than 14 mph. Keep that in mind before talking about dead pedestrians; we are dealing with extremely low speeds here, and also the car is not quiet and is really easy to hear when it's using the motor or the regeneration.

 

[devbolt]

Bicycles are also not 3600 pounds. Being hit by a bicycle at 14-mph will do considerably less damage to a pedestrian than a 3600 pound vehicle. A bicycle is also much more manuevarable and a competent rider can more easily avoid a collision with a clueless pedestrian.

 

[gpsman]

:!: How about best of both worlds?

I think eventually I will get around to putting in a switch.

Sound on in crowded parking lots and heavy pedestrian areas.

Sound off in bumper to bumper freeway traffic, in rural areas, and late at night.

 

[EldRick]

How about just wiring a resistor in series with the audio output to cut the volume?

 

[michael]

EV's or PHEV's DO NOT KILL OR INJURE PEOPLE more often than gasoline and diesel vehicles. FACT.

Can you share what source you're using for this?

I ask because the Wikipedia page about electric vehicle sounds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds) has quite a few links saying things like "The study found that a HEV was two times more likely to be involved in a pedestrian crash than was a conventional ICE vehicle when a vehicle is slowing or stopping, backing up, or entering or leaving a parking space", and "The NHTSA study also concluded that the incidence rate of bicyclist crashes involving HEVs for the same kind of maneuvers was significantly higher when compared to conventional vehicles".

If you say some lawyer will try to place blame on me after an accident without noise makers, I have no fear. My lawyer will prove the pedestrian acted unsafe, illegally, was drunk, on drugs, without sleep, listening to ear pods, reading a text message, chewing gum, and trying to walk at the same time. The odds are HUGELY stacked in my favor.

I'm imagining a lawyer for a dead five-year-old child telling a jury "little Johnny wouldn't have run in the street chasing the ball from between those vans if he'd heard Mr. G's car.... and he would have heard it, if Mr. G. hadn't intentionally disabled the very feature that General Motors engineers designed to protect children." It seems to me the only thing your lawyer will be doing is trying to get your sentence reduced from eight years to four, no matter how unsafe the child acted.

Obviously we disagree, though. I could be wrong. *shrug* Personally I'm glad my Bolt makes a noise that people might use to avoid me.

The studies do not use comparable cohorts.

EVs are largely urban vehicles, centered in certain areas (like California...). You rarely find them in rural areas.

It is entirely possible that the difference in observed accident rates relates to where the cars are found. A better study would compare, for example, the accident rate in the CIty of Los Angeles of EVs vs all cars. That one I'd believe.

In a farm town, little Johnny dashing out from between two parked pickup trucks would be hit by another pickup truck. You won't find a bunch of Leafs there, probably not a single one.

In Beverly Hills, little Johnny would be hit by a Tesla.

 

[ssspinball]

Glad to hear this useless annoyance can be so trivially disabled.

If someday this law is revised to apply equally to all cars instead of singling out EVs, I'll reconsider.

 

[redpoint5]

US laws regarding right of way are absurd, and do the opposite of ensuring pedestrian safety.

Since the law gives right of way to pedestrians, even on motor vehicle roadways, it conditions pedestrians to assume vehicles will yield to them. People are so comfortable that they will cross roads without looking, assuming that a 4,000 lb vehicle is going to notice them and stop.

Furthermore, it takes enormous amounts of energy to stop a multi-ton vehicle from high speeds, and almost no energy or distance to stop a pedestrian.

The law needs to be changed to assume the vehicle has the right of way unless the pedestrian is on a pedestrian only path, or following crossing signals.

Concerning the noise generators; I think it only fair that pedestrians should be required to carry noise generating devices. I mean, pedestrians are some sneaky little devils to see and hear. Certainly more difficult than 3,000+ lb brightly-colored steel objects.

... and there are plenty of gassers that are so quiet I wouldn't know the engine was running unless I was within a couple feet of the car.

Is there any evidence that EVs are particularly lethal to peds?

 

[LeftieBiker]

Since the law gives right of way to pedestrians, even on motor vehicle roadways, it conditions pedestrians to assume vehicles will yield to them.

You might want to look up "Jay Walking."

 

[sgt1372]

As I recall, some Tesla Roadster owners tried to come up w/a beefy engine exhaust sound track.

Don't believe it ever happened but I''d love to have one for the Bolt to warn pedestrians that I'm coming their way. LOL!!!

 

[BerkeleyBowlt]

As I recall, some Tesla Roadster owners tried to come up w/a beefy engine exhaust sound track.

Don't believe it ever happened but I''d love to have one for the Bolt to warn pedestrians that I'm coming their way. LOL!!!

Nah, an engine exhaust sound is what they'd expect. You want something a little more interesting. If I could change mine, it would sound like this:

https://youtu.be/8AOfbnGkuGc

 

[dndrich]

OK, couldn't help myself. Today I removed fuse #34. I don't mind the idea of a noisemaker, but I just don't like this noisemaker. It makes kind of a high pitched grating sound. Just unpleasant. It seems to stop right at 14 mph. I can really hear it inside the car. So, out with the fuse, and now the sounds of silence. Better. Guess I'd better put it back in when I return the car after the lease in 3 years!!

 

[michael]

How about this....blow the fuse and put it back in!!

 

[GetOffYourGas]

How about this....blow the fuse and put it back in!!

I know this isn't what you mean, but I picture someone "blowing" the fuse like you would an old NES game....

 

[NeilBlanchard]

What does the Bolt EV low speed noise sound like?

 

[user 1034]

Nah, an engine exhaust sound is what they'd expect. You want something a little more interesting. If I could change mine, it would sound like this:

https://youtu.be/8AOfbnGkuGc

Oh HELL yeah! That's a mod I'd pay for. :twisted:

 

[dndrich]

What does the Bolt EV low speed noise sound like?

It is a bit of a high pitched raspy sound. Kind of like when you breath out hard with your vocal chords strained. A breathy sound. I don't like it, so I took out the fuse. I suspect it does not bother most folks.

 

[mikegrb]

I pulled the 7.5 Amp PFAF fuse and heard the sweet sounds of silence from my car. The buttons on my steering wheel also quit working though so I put it back in. Built 2/17.

I've seen a couple of reports of people saying the buttons on their wheel quit working. Maybe they should check this fuse?

 

[dndrich]

I pulled the 7.5 Amp PFAF fuse and heard the sweet sounds of silence from my car. The buttons on my steering wheel also quit working though so I put it back in. Built 2/17.

I've seen a couple of reports of people saying the buttons on their wheel quit working. Maybe they should check this fuse?

Hmm. Interesting. No, mine all work fine despite the PFAF fuse having been removed. Weird.