Letters to the Editor
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Fiction beat you to it
There is a scene in "Weeds" where (I think) U-turn describes how Priuses are perfect for drive-by shootings because they are so quiet.
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Not just dangerous for the blind....
Those Priuses have quick acceleration...if you are crossing at a crosswalk and one decides not to wait for you, as a pedestrian, you do not have the sound cues to STOP yourself. I was almost taken out by one the other day. They should have bells on them or something.
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Oh, go ahead and scoff
This is a suburban legend in the making. If they accelerate, the engine comes on. And makes a noise. The Prius might be good for a drive-by, but not so much for the getaway.
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@Ian
Damn it, you beat me to the Weeds reference.
Having had discussions with my Prius-owning friends about what a "stealth" car the Prius is, I fell out of my chair laughing when the drug dealer U-Turn informed Nancy that, after riding in her Prius, he bought a whole fleet for his operation, (I'm going to butcher the quote because it's been a while) "To sneak up on motherfuckers real quiet-like, and pop pop pop!"
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yes, this is just what the hybrid cars)
I think the Prius (and other hybrid vehicles) should make some kind of modulated thrumming sound: the kind of sound you hear from vehicles in science fiction movies. Otherwise you can't tell the difference between a working Prius, and one where the driver just forgot to set the parking brake.
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Trams
Actually, what I remember from my biking days in the Bay Area is that it was those trams / electric buses that were really deadly. Quieter and quicker than you think, especially when you factor in wind noise in your ears from going up or down hill.
Nearly got smacked by about 5 of 'em, long before the "ninja Prius."
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Just put cowbells on them
Fine handcrafted Tibetan cowbells. And if you can't find any then I'm sure you can get the digital version from the Sonoma Williams catalog.
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Make up your damn minds!
Now you're complaining the car is too quiet, but when I drive past you in my Prius with punk rock blasting at full volume and the windows down, you complain about the noise!
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Not just blind people and cyclists
I live in an area with very curvy roads, without sidewalks. When my husband and I walk our dogs, we are always always alert for the sound of cars coming, so that we can move off the road or cross the street. We haven't seen a lot of Prius's in our area yet, but if we do we certainly could have a problem.
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The beat of horses' hoofs (hooves?).
Though the vast majority of human beings rely primarily on their visual sense, we all still pay attention to the rest of our senses on some level. If you're not deaf, you are subconsciously listening to the sounds around you, and for the last one hundred years are so, since the automobile began to grow in prevalence, we've become accustomed to listening for the sounds of an engine.
Even before that, we paid attention for the sound of a horse galloping toward us. If it moves, it makes noise. If it moves and doesn't make noise, well, it's probably trying to kill us. Probably why the leap from silent Prius to ninja assassin is so easy to make. Might as well start naming new hybrid models after predatory animals. They'd probably sell better among mainstream America with names like that.
I think, until all vehicles are silent and we've retrained ourselves to be aware of them without hearing them, some device needs to be made part of hybrid engines that emits an attention getting yet not annoying sound.
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The quiet also affect owners
Yes, Toyota/Lexus hybrids (not just the Prius) are super quiet when they are running in electric mode. So much so that Toyota had to make some adjustments. First, they use lots of extra noise insulation materials in cars like the Camry and Hilander Hybrid because the noise difference between the cars' electric and gas modes was just too jarring for the drivers. Second, the car manuals contain all sorts of special warnings such as "you may hear sound X -- this is normal". This is because when the car is that quiet people heard all sorts of car sounds that they don't hear in other cars, and wondered if it meant there was car trouble.
But finally, the biggest quietness issue for Toyota/Lexus hybrid owners is that you might forget to turn the car off when you leave it. The "smart key" system means you literally never take the key out of your pocket -- the car senses the key remotely and you just push a button. This means you can forget to hit the off button when you stop, and the lack of any sound of an engine running means there is no warning except a beep from the car when you get out (a beep that you might easily ignore). Most Toyota/Lexus hybrid owners have done this at least once.
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Noise Pollution
Actually, the quietness of the Prius is a very nice plus. I'm a cyclist and walker too, but have never been threatened by one. You can hear them moving through the air, and the tires running on the road, so I don't think they are 'soundless' at all.
Harley riders claim their bloviating tailpipes are 'safety' equipment. It has always been the fall-back argument for people who really just want to be very very loud. Again, same issue, where is the evidence of these claims?
I think noise is a greater issue than quiet, even for the deaf.
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Ricer
Put on a fart pipe, huge ass wing, blacked out windows, low rise tires. And blast Mexican doper rap. Extra points for one or both primer only front fenders and an incomplete body kit.
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everyone gets a star!
This thread is just too good.
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perhaps
Every Prius should be equipped with a device that could be used by the driver to make a loud noise to alert any blind pedestrians? I would suggest using some kind of horn, and having its trigger be next to the left foot. Better yet - the steering wheel!
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Blind people are too quiet
If they would just make some noise, the Prius drivers would be able to avoid them.