Well, now I'm certain that the VSP is useless!

[LAWesthaver]

The other day I was pulling into my street and approached my neighbor walking her dog. My neighbor had her back to me and her dog was zig-zagging back and forth on its leash. As I got closer I slowed to about 5 miles per hour because I was concerned that she and the dog would cross my path. When I was about 5 feet from her, she just about jumped out of her skin from fright when she realized I was there.

So much for the VSP as an effective way of warning pedestrian of your presence. As far as I know my neighbor isn't hard of hearing and she wasn't listening to music with earphones on, so I have to assume a normal person can't hear the VSP even at very close range.

Honestly, I've tried to hear the VSP while driving the car and have never heard it. The backup sound is clear although very low in volume.

Either my VSP is broken or it the sound is so nondescript as to make it useless.

The leaf is freakishly quiet (which I love) but it would be nice to have the option of turning on a louder warning sound at low speeds. And yes, I think the Jetsons sound would be cool.

 

[Weatherman]

I approached a couple of pedestrians walking down the middle of the street with their two dogs. The dogs heard the VSP and kept looking back and getting increasingly agitated as I approached. Good thing. Both people were completely oblivious.

 

[Phatcat73]

its a good thing the car comes with a horn. give it a tap next time.

 

[TomT]

Assuming you have upgraded it. Otherwise, it is simply too embarrassing to use it. It sounds like a hair lipped frog...

its a good thing the car comes with a horn. give it a tap next time.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

you were driving too slow.

 

[LeftieBiker]

The problem is, I think, that it just sounds like the gear whine of a car - one farther away. It needs to sound more distinctive.

 

[KillaWhat]

Still want somebody to hack it so it make the "Jetsons" sound.

 

[Wennfred]

Still want somebody to hack it so it make the "Jetsons" sound.

+1 I want that sound too lol

 

[LeftieBiker]

I still want mine to sound like either the (first) Batmobile or the Jupiter II.

 

[jlv]

That would be sweet!
http://www.findsounds.com/ISAPI/search.dll?keywords=Jetsons

 

[adric22]

I have noticed the same phenomenon in parking lots. People will be walking in front of me, completely oblivious that I am waiting for them to get out of the way. I wish the Leaf had a pedestrian horn like the Volt. That way you don't have to scare people out of their skin with a full horn blast.

 

[cgaydos]

The theory is that blind people are taught to listen for the sounds of cars, including the VSP sound.

 

[Rat]

I've had a couple of incidents where pedestrians blocking my path did not hear the sound even though I was only a few feet behind, going their pace. The two I particularly remember both involved teens. In one case two teens were walking down the middle of a long, woide driveway to a large parking lot, thus blocking both entering and leaving traffic. They were gabbing with each other in a very animated fashion and I doubt they would have noticed a Harley right behind them, they were so oblivious. In another case the girl was rollerblading in the middle of the lane, and seemed unaware of me for the two or three blocks I was right behind her. I couldn't pass because of oncoming traffic. She was wearing a helmet. I didn't see any evidence of earbuds, but it's possible she was listening to music. I don't think the problem there was the VSP, either. This kind of thing happens to my wife in her Acura, too. I don't hear the VSP when I'm driving since it seems to be well-directed frontwards, but when I roll down the windows and drive slow, I sure hear it loud and clear. It's quite annoying, actually, which it is supposed to be. It doesn't sound like a car, though, and that's probably a contributing factor.

 

[aarond12]

I had a similar situation. At work, my car and another were crossing in front of the building at the same time. The pedestrians saw the other car and watched as it passed, then walked right in front of my car! I kinda thought they might not look, so I was ready to stop, but they were only a few feet in front of me when I stopped! Needless to say, they were surprised.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I waited until actually being able to test this with a few different cars. the mix

2013 LEAF
2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid
2012 Chevy Impala
2000 Toyota Corolla

3 completely different cars. So had to warm them up to operating temps because both the Fusion and Impala made additional noises when cold in irregular basis and have no idea what the noises were from. random pumps.

all tests done without fans on (LEAF exterior fan noise was enough to wake the dead, same with Fusion)

tested in somewhat protected parking lot with minimal ambient noise. In fact, the primary noise was I-5 that was only a few blocks away but had several barriers blocking the noise.

all hearing results were opinions only by female; 25 YO (me too old and EVERYTHING sounds quiet to me )

results; Only the Corolla made enough noise but only because even in its idle stage, it had random high pitched "metal on metal" clangs that really stand out. Also had very quiet but noticeable "wheel" noise. not quite bearing squeak but still rolled louder...


the other 3 cars, were quiet enough that she says it would be real easy to believe that they would not be heard approaching and that includes the Impala which does not have shutoff mode. But in low idle, it is very quiet. It did have random pump and fan noise like events but we rolled it back and forth across the parking lot a few times and if going straight, it was very quiet.

The Fusion has EV mode and at parking lot speeds, that is where it would be most of the time. it took a lot more effort than I expected to get it into run mode but when it was, it was pretty loud because there was a higher pitched whining noise like a bad power steering pump like sound plus other noises that essentially drowned out the actual engine noise

conclusion; the whole point of this thread is wrong. it is not VSP that needs work, it Mankind. my first suggestion is to go back to your first grade instructions from your mother and look both ways before crossing the street.

 

[SmilingWhenSailing]

conclusion; the whole point of this thread is wrong. it is not VSP that needs work, it Mankind. my first suggestion is to go back to your first grade instructions from your mother and look both ways before crossing the street.

And if that doesn´t help then the Norwegian way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTnX-F23wVs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[cgaydos]

conclusion; the whole point of this thread is wrong. it is not VSP that needs work, it Mankind. my first suggestion is to go back to your first grade instructions from your mother and look both ways before crossing the street.

The purpose of VSP is to assist blind people who have learned to cross streets safely by listening for the sound of the car. Whether it works or not is open to debate. However, in that case "look both ways" doesn't quite solve the problem.

 

[philipscoggins]

It's weird, the VSP always alerts people I'm trying to sneak up on, but I've never noticed anyone in a parking lot turn their head to look because of the sound.

I've gotten to where I drive like everyone is deaf in a parking lot, but that's a slight to deaf people, because they have the common sense to look before they change directions abruptly in a parking lot. I do think that driving an EV has taught my kids to pay more attention in parking lots, they are always looking for EVs!

I believe someone noted on the forum a long time ago that it's just an mp3 file that could be swapped, but don't remember where...

 

[JPWhite]

it is not VSP that needs work, it Mankind.

Agreed.

It is interesting to see legislators around the globe react to the techno panic due to killer silent EV's and propose all manner of remedies to this 'problem'. 'Course gasoline cars never killed any pedestrians, ever, thanks to their noises!!

VSP is to keep the legislators away.

How come no one has suggested Colonel Bogey to replace the std VSP sound?

 

[gbarry42]

It's quite apparent that the sound is there for anyone who wishes to listen for it. Thus, the blind folks will be fine (and probably observing the tire sounds even without VSP). It's the rest of 'em that aren't listening. I can hear every hybrid that goes by (inverters make their own sounds)--it's only because I choose to pay attention. In my LEAF, I can toggle the sound on and off (makes it more apparent) and people still aren't listening.

So, it is I who have learned...learned to assume they don't know I'm coming.