Are hybrid cars somehow too quiet to be safe?
For years, environmentalists have been tripping over themselves to heap praise on hybrid cars and their drivers.
After all, the vehicles are less polluting, conserve a fraction of the fuel and are whisper quiet. It’s like they’re not even on the road.
But, are the cars too quiet?
That appears to be the issue now as safety experts are trying to goad manufacturers into supplying a “digitally enhanced vroom” sound on hybrids so people can better hear them coming.
According to the New York Times, hybrids are so hushed at their current noise level, they pose a serious threat to pedestrians, children and the elderly.
So apparently, in response, some manufacturers have begun working with Hollywood special-effects studios to customize a faux engine noise that will be pumped from speakers in the bumper of the car.
No, really. Serious.
The Fisker Karma, an $87,900 plug-in hybrid coming out next year, will feature a fake engine sound described as “a cross between a starship and a Formula One car.”
Buyers may even be able to choose their own sound from a list provided, sort of like a car ring-tone, a BMW spokeswoman tells the Times.
The idea sounds preposterous on the surface (it was a pretty impressive achievement to be able to make a car silent in the first place), no doubt, but it turns out there might be some merit to the modifications.
A University of California/National Federation of the Blind study has found people simply can’t hear hybrids coming until they’re dangerously close.
“People listening in a lab could correctly detect a gas-powered car’s approach when it was 28 feet away,” quotes the Times, “but could not hear the arrival of a hybrid operating in silent battery mode until it was only seven feet away.”
What do you think? Is pumping a fake engine noise from a silent hybrid as ridiculous as it seems?
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Andy T | Oct 16, 2021 3:42:43 PM
Too obvious that cars are too quite, I remember stumble onto a TV spot for a car ad where it was touted to be so quite it zoomed past a broken down motorist in the desert interstate area, it was gas-powered almost 10 years ago, I kept thinking that ain't right, purposely missing a motorist wanting a ride to nearest garage is one thing buut dangerously missing or even hitting a pedestrian by mistake is not. We have ears to hear things to help us to identify danger and muffling some white noise is not going to help.
Posted by: Lindon | Oct 16, 2021 8:47:58 PM
Are hybrid cars somehow too quiet to be safe? I don't care. I don't drive one.
Posted by: Clark Hill | Oct 16, 2021 10:30:19 PM
When "horseless carraiges" first appeared they were too swift and silent. So laws were passed to ensure the public's safety. At one time is was required that a car be preceeded by a man on foot carrying a red flag.
Silent cars are an improvement that only those who refuse to adapt to change would try to reverse. The din of our cities and highways is what makes the approach of a quieter car undetectable to those who have closed their ears to anything but the loudest of rackets. What we need is more silent cars and more attentive listeners, not extra noise added to the few cars that are helping to improve out acoustic environment.
Posted by: Bob | Oct 17, 2021 3:19:34 AM
Quiet is better.
I don't think I've heard of anything as retarded as added fake sound to a car. What next? Clacking sounds for bikes? How about just looking both ways before stepping out on the street? And if you get run over, maybe that's a process of elimination that should be embraced.
Let me repeat....LESS NOISE = BETTER.
Posted by: JD | Oct 17, 2021 4:33:53 AM
Horseless carriages too swift and silent? Really? Have you ever heard any of those contraptions? They're anything but silent, even the steam powered cars were notoriously loud with clanking, hissing, banging and various other noises being emitted. The only reason a man on foot had to precede the car with a flag was to let pedestrians and other motorists know a car was approaching, since the brakes weren't exactly effective. As for swift, there are numerous examples of the carriages racing against horses. The horse usually won. Which seems to be reinforced by a man on foot being able to precede the horseless carriage. Modern cars are much quieter than even cars of 30 years ago. A car being silent is not an improvement, really. The article made a very good point about unsighted pedestrians not being able to identify an oncoming car because they can't hear it. Seems to me, no matter how attentive a blind person is, if he/she can't hear oncoming traffic, they can't exactly look both ways before crossing the street. Sure, there are crosswalk signals that make noise to let an unsighted person know the signal has changed, but the silent electric vehicle running a light is more of a threat than a car that makes an added noise. Nothing in the article states how loud the noises would be. Something like 60 decibels, the level of a normal conversation, could mean the difference between life and death to a blind person.
Posted by: DrVex007 | Oct 17, 2021 4:34:38 AM
Okay this might just be the most rediculous article on MSN. Hybrids too quiet?
This and a few other articles are clear attempts for non Hybrid fans to desperately grasp onto anything to complain.
Okay here is the question in response to this article.
Are Hybrids too quiet to be safe? Or is it better to completely destroy the planet?
Wow it sure would be quiet then....
I guess it was a slow day in the newsroom.
Posted by: Jari | Oct 17, 2021 4:38:25 AM
Reduced carbon and greenhouse gas emissions are very important in new technology, such as automobiles, but safety concerns for human life are most important. We have to come up with a compromise solution. Public safety awareness could be implemented,...a little bit of noise from the 'green vehicle' could be used in our hybrids for a certain amount of time until the public 'gets used to it'...but quiet is better...that is coming from a guy who used to love hot rods and loud engines.
Posted by: JD | Oct 17, 2021 4:56:31 AM
Hybrids are not the solution to the "destroying the planet" problem. Hybrids are commonly overrated for fuel mileage, especially in cold climates. Asked a taxi driver, driving a Prius in -20C weather in Winnipeg how often the car runs on just the electric motor. Pretty much never is what he told me. His fuel mileage was no better than any other 4 cylinder engine under those circumstances. Even if the world were somehow instantly able to convert to hybrid cars, the fuel savings would amount to one year of consumption for the US. With the growing economies in the Third World, fuel consumption would be right back to current levels within three years. Honda, for one manufacturer, makes PZEV vehicles which have better emissions than many hybrids, without the expected problems of what to do with the old batteries in hybrids. A PZEV vehicle actually emits cleaner air than what comes into its' intake. There are a number of evolving technologies which have cleaner emissions than hybrids. One of the most promising is hydrogen fuel cells. A refilling system could be stored in a household garage, and the only emission is water vapor. The cars' performance and range is comparable to a regular internal combustion engine. A purely electric vehicle has limited range, and again is greatly affected by temperature and options. Run the heater or air conditioning and your range is depleted. They're a good idea for inner city or urban areas, but for much of rural Canada, they are not practical. I drive a 70 km round trip to get to work. Even then, I spend less time driving than most commuters in, say, Vancouver. An electric car like the Chevy Volt, with a range of approximately 60 kms with a full battery charge woulldn't work for me. Besides not willing to pay about $40000, the expected price of the car. Fortunately the company I work for has a bus service to the worksite, so I rarely have to drive to work anyway.
Posted by: Jack Masterman | Oct 17, 2021 11:11:05 AM
I think quite is a lot better than the sounds of some vehicles on the road today. Perhaps money would be better spent on a radar braking system on the cars to prevent them from hitting pedestrians than spending money on "fake" engine sounds.
Posted by: Herb | Oct 17, 2021 11:38:52 AM
My wife and I are hard of hearing, all cars come up without our knowledge. We would like to have backup alarms on all vehicles.
Posted by: tom ullrich | Oct 17, 2021 11:44:06 AM
are hybrids too quiet? YES
many years ago when the toyota prius first came out, i was getting gas at my local gas station. while i was filling up, i noticed the prius owner just finishing filling up too. i finished filling my car, and stepped out to walk to the pay booth. YES, i glanced in both directions. nothing moving, nothing about to move because no sound of running engines. i vaguelly remember hearing a buzzing or humming sound (not associated to a moving car sound), and then behing gently hit in the leg by the prius car. the driver yelled at me to watch where the f**k i am going. i was startled to be hit, cause a second ago when i glanced in the direction of the prius, there was no movement, and no sound of running engines. i guess the prius starts in electric mode only, unless you need the gas engine. a few more heated words were exchanged, and that was that. talk about a lesson to be learned here. throw everything you associated with a moving car out the window as a pedestrian. time for brain to be re-trained.
Posted by: Mary | Oct 17, 2021 1:35:55 PM
I drive taxi 60 hours a week. I drive a hybrid...a Toyota Prius. In the two years I have driven the car I have not hit anyone (a very good thing). I have had to re-train myself as a driver. I am well aware that people do not hear my car approaching and I take that into consideration at all times. I am a night driver and when I am approaching people on bikes or skate boards who's backs are towards me I flash my lights once to make them aware I am coming. This has worked welll for all involved. Our customers love the environmently friendly cars and as drivers we have to be aware we drive silent cars. The public is becoming more aware and drivers have to drive safe as they do in any car. I am amazed we are allowed to drive cars that can go over 100 KM as speeding is more dangerous than our silent cars.
Posted by: Nothing Unusual | Oct 17, 2021 1:36:22 PM
Some of the comments here are as questionable if not more-so than the article.
1. The blind- this has been discussed I wont beat a dead horse.
2. The hearing impaired- this ranges the gamut to kids born with birth defects, to teenagers who damaged their hearing from loud music, to various types of construction workers dealing with heavy machinery/loud noises for a number of years, to the elderly who are losing their hearing as part of growing old.
It is stupid to say we should rely on just one sense- you try walking around for a day with a blind fold on, or ear plugs in- you might be surprised how much you are aware of. Often we hear most important incidents before our eyes locate them, infact thats part of how our eyes locate things in the first place.
Hybrids are too silent. adding a noise to them is beneficial. The level of that noise should be sufficient such that a hearing impared or blind person would have time to identify the noise, the direction it is originating from, and the correct course of action (ie stepping back onto the sidewalk). 7 feet as mentioned in the article is not sufficient for this.
Until the world becomes a better place with more intelligent individuals, and less "Are hybrid cars somehow too quiet to be safe? I don't care. I don't drive one." sound will do us all good.
Posted by: 4r4nd0mninj4 | Oct 17, 2021 1:55:54 PM
Blind, def, or just plain ignorant of their surrounding due headphones on their ears, it is the responsibility of the driver not to hit these people. If the driver is paying attention then this is a non issue. As for the above by Uallrich...it was the drivers fault for driving into you and he should watch where he was going.
Posted by: Martin Ozolin | Oct 17, 2021 1:59:46 PM
All cars make tire noise at about 50km/hr and more. Once truly silent magnitically levitated vehicles appear on pavement it will remain an issue only for slower speeds. Blind people are especially distracted by intermittent beeping noises. Why not have slow moving vehicles sound like the hovering saucers described in UFO books? Noisy electric fuel pumps can be made to sound cool and retro.
Posted by: carley | Oct 17, 2021 2:12:16 PM
only thing i'd have to say about this is, i'm sick and tired of hearing cars zooming down the street at 11 at night.
quiet cars are good cars, and if you can look both ways when crossing the street and the drivers can see well out of their windshields, i'm sure everyone will be just fine.
Posted by: Peter | Oct 17, 2021 2:20:41 PM
So long as the noise is tied into actual RPM then it should be fine.
Posted by: PatJT | Oct 17, 2021 4:58:31 PM
Yes. Hybrids are too quiet to be safe, as is. The only people who don't think this is a problem, are people who NEVER spend any length of time as a pedestrian (which all able-bodied people should!). I was working in a lube shop when the Prius came out. It does start in electric-only mode. The thing is so silent, you can't even tell it is running. You could be only metres form a pedestrian before they heard you. As somebody with loads of urban courier experience (including many years on a bicycle too, another nearly silent vehicle) I can tell you that people are constantly making the mistake of stepping onto the street without looking, when they don't hear anything coming. It just happens. You still don't want to run into them, even if it is their mistake! I don't want to kill or injure somebody.....ever! Having an artificial noise from hybrids and electrics is a very good idea, and should become a legal requirement for both the manufacturer to provide, and the end user to maintain (yes, operating a motor-vehicle DOES come with responsibilities). Ultimately, all motor-vehicles will eventually be either hybrid or fully electric, it's inevitable. Steps should be taken now to ensure their safe integration into our traffic system.
Posted by: GaryJL | Oct 19, 2021 4:56:06 AM
Too quiet!!!! Now maybe the pedestrians will have to look before they walk out into the street .... take a little responsibility for your own damn lives people!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: dave | Oct 19, 2021 2:02:48 PM
Why can't pesedtrians JUST LOOK BOTH WAYS and if it takes more than one time to look , then look again!!!, I've never seen a country as CANADA (i was born and raised in Vancouver B.C) where a pedestrian can step out into the street and if struck by a car , blame the driver. Its easier to stop walking then to try and stop a 1500 lbs car. If a car gets hit by a train. do we blame the train? NO we blame the dumb ass who tried to beat the train!. Now Put in place of the train, the CAR/TRUCK, and put in place of the car , the Pedestrian.. Wow oh wow , . Nearly every country in Europe and even the USA . The ROAD iIS FOR CARS and Sidewalks etc are for pedestrians. I know in the UK if you step on the road without using a MARKED crosswalk ,, guess what , its you own fault if you get pegged by a car, but here in Canada its everyone elses responsibility but the pedestrian, who has the best stopping distance and the best turning radius. So hybrids with fake noise.. GIVE ME A BREAK. I like going to sleep at night and not hearing cars zoom up and down the street. Oh and Guess what when i cross the street I USE THE CROSS WALK or Check both ways (some times even twice) before crossing. Canada is turning into a Sissy/boy/girl country. No reponsibility for anyone who cries hard enough . Theres MY 2 cents