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US Demands Electric Cars Make Noise at Low Speed

posted by martyb on Wednesday November 16 2016, @03:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the fake-engine-noises-FTW-Vrrrm-Vrrrm! dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

A US road safety body has demanded that electric cars travelling at low speed make a noise to warn pedestrians.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the rule was needed because battery-powered vehicles are very quiet.

It said the rule would particularly help blind pedestrians, or those with a visual impairment, detect electric cars and hybrids on the road.

The new safety rule could help prevent 2,400 injuries a year, said the NHTSA.

The rule demands that the cars make a noise when travelling either forwards or backwards at speeds of less than 30kmh (19mph). The regulation covers vehicles with four wheels that weigh less than 10,000 pounds (4.5 tonnes).

The safety specification requires car makers to use a two-tone signal similar to that currently emitted by heavy vehicles when they are reversing.

It would be more fun if drivers could customize what that sound is, such as "La Cucaracha" or the whine of a Shadow vessel.

An Anonymous Coward also wrote in to tell us:

Electric and hybrid cars are to include a noise generation device for travel at low speeds with no internal combustion engine: http://www.nhtsa.gov/About-NHTSA/Press-Releases/nhtsa_quiet_car_final_rule_11142016.

There goes my quiet electric future.

Original Submission #1
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by deadstick on Wednesday November 16 2016, @03:58PM

    by deadstick (5110) on Wednesday November 16 2016, @03:58PM (#427563)

    I want a Jake brake sound.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by kurenai.tsubasa on Wednesday November 16 2016, @04:03PM

    by kurenai.tsubasa (5227) on Wednesday November 16 2016, @04:03PM (#427566) Journal

    Ok, pony sounds when moving at a constant speed or accelerating, jake brake when the regenerative braking kicks in!

    • (Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday November 16 2016, @04:04PM

      by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Wednesday November 16 2016, @04:04PM (#427568)

      Where are my mod points? (Yes!)

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Thursday November 17 2016, @06:36AM

      by anubi (2828) on Thursday November 17 2016, @06:36AM (#427981) Journal

      I have often thought of a sound effect of badly failing brakes for those clowns who step right out onto the road without looking or open car doors right into traffic.

      Make it sound like they almost got creamed.

      Let them clean their own trousers out after what gave all sounds of being a near-miss.

      --
      "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]

  • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Wednesday November 16 2016, @05:13PM

    by Pino P (4721) on Wednesday November 16 2016, @05:13PM (#427616) Journal

    Has Jacobs Vehicle Systems [jacobsvehiclesystems.com] trademarked the sound of the Jake brake the way Harley-Davidson tried to trademark its motorcycles' "potato potato" sound [latimes.com]?