Nearly ran over a pedestrian today.

[Nubo]

I have had some pedestrians notice the car by its sound. I may be imagining things but it seems to me that these tend to be younger folks. The noisemaker does seem to be biased towards higher frequencies, imho. And perception of high frequencies tends to fade with age.

That said though, I can't really say whether pedestrian detection of the LEAF is any better or worse than a reasonably quiet ICE vehicle. It may just be that I tend to be curious about the effect of the VSP and so I'm paying more attention to how pedestrians react. I've certainly seen countless unaware pedestrians while driving other cars.

 

[padamson1]

I have had some pedestrians notice the car by its sound. I may be imagining things but it seems to me that these tend to be younger folks. The noisemaker does seem to be biased towards higher frequencies, imho. And perception of high frequencies tends to fade with age.

That said though, I can't really say whether pedestrian detection of the LEAF is any better or worse than a reasonably quiet ICE vehicle. It may just be that I tend to be curious about the effect of the VSP and so I'm paying more attention to how pedestrians react. I've certainly seen countless unaware pedestrians while driving other cars.

+1

There are certain people who just don't look around when they're walking (because they are usually looking at their phones). In recent years, I've had just as many near misses while driving my son's ICE as my LEAF, which has resulted in a reduction in my parking lot driving speed.

I was recently traveling in Amsterdam, which was a great pedestrian learning experience. For those who haven't been there, the city center is dominated by bike traffic and very quiet streetcars. You really have to use your eyes to avoid getting hit, bikes especially can sneak up you from anywhere. Depending on sounds to protect you is not an option, you'll hear little bike bells ring continuously as bikers don't want to slow down.

This gave me the idea of a second, more subtle LEAF horn for pedestrians, a soft ring like a bike bell that I could use in parking lots instead of a blaring car horn beep. Otherwise a few more EV's in every US city and mall parking lot pedestrians will only learn thanx to 'operant conditioning' and/or Darwinian principles ;-)

 

[ksnogas2112]

Ambient noise can certainly easily drown out the vsp. I was trying to hear it when the dealer brought the demo and later my car up for me to have and I never heard anything until I pulled it into the garage and the sound bounced off the walls. The dealership was right along the frontage road at the interstate.

 

[GRA]

I pay extra attention when in a parking lot with my LEAF. Sometimes I have the VSP off and sometimes I leave it on. I've been in a parking lot in a situation where I'm not trying to find a spot but rather I'm trying to leave the lot and someone is walking in the middle of the isle. If the VSP is off I'll turn it on to get their attention but honestly it's hit or miss if the person associates the sound of the VSP with an automobile behind them. Or furthermore if the pedestrian has a mobile phone to their ear or headphones on to even hear the VSP.

In the last 3-5 years I have noticed more and more bad drivers and aloof pedestrians that I tend to drive more alert in general. I don't want to rely on pedestrians to recognize that my car is on (either ICE or LEAF) and watch out for me - I'd rather be proactive and watch out for them. Being a cyclist I'm attune to monitoring cars when I go by to know if someone is inside and about to fling open their door. That helps me when walking through a parking lot to identify movement in a car to know if it is going to back up because honestly, reverse light bulbs are one of the last things drivers notice are out.

As a cyclist and walker, I assume everyone in a motor vehicle is a homicidal maniac intent on killing me, until proven otherwise. As a general rule, I get fresh proof of this approximately every two weeks, when a driver plows through a cross-walk or emerges from a blind driveway right in front of me. If I relied on signals, lines or laws to keep me safe I'd have been dead decades ago.

There's no question that pedestrians don't hear me on my bike, so I tend to give them a verbal head's up ('passing on your left' etc.) when I'm around them. And since I've lost most of my high-frequency hearing and a fair amount of the rest in the past decade or so (I wear hearing aids now), I've become even more vision-centered in being aware of safety threats; cars were getting quieter even before my personal world did. But as more and more people are distracted by their cellphones/iPods etc., I think we've just got to accept that it's up to us to avoid them.

 

[Nubo]

...As a cyclist and walker, I assume everyone in a motor vehicle is a homicidal maniac intent on killing me, until proven otherwise...

+1. Cycling teaches you quick that you always need to regard each vehicle/pedestrian as if they are going to do EXACTLY the wrong thing at EXACTLY the worst moment.

I frequently ponder that it might be pleasant to go through life as one of the many people who don't bother looking before they cross a street, merge onto a freeway, or rush out of a building onto a crowded sidewalk without a care in the world... What free and blithe spirits they seem! But I guess some of us need to be watching... :lol:

 

[cwerdna]

And yet, there are a # of folks here who are dead set on always disabling the noisemaker after power up, changing its default to off or finding other means of disabling theirs... :roll:

I'm pretty sure that the chance of pedestrian accidents goes up significantly if the noisemaker's disabled...

Doesn't sound like it did any good in this situation.

No, it didn't, but still, I'm sure there are numerous cases where a pedestrian took notice because of the odd sounds coming from a Leaf and thus an accident was averted.

 

[Hedge74]

Several times I've gotten behind people walking to or from their car in a parking lot who seemed unaware that I was there. At least I don't think they were strolling down the middle of the lane between parked cars just to aggravate me. I've thought of using my horn, but that seems impolite, so I haven't. Yeah, I wouldn't mind if the VSP was louder.


Ray

I have that problem in my ICE. It is really Quiet unless I make it a point to rev the engine.



Hedge

 

[KeiJidosha]

My gripe is the chosen noise (LEAF and Fit EV) is not vehicular. Pedestrians and cyclists do not associate it with a car, let alone movement. As in the MINI E, I run the A/C in close quarters. The fan and compressor are something people recognize as an operating vehicle.

 

[tbleakne]

I had a close call with a bicyclist a few months after I got my LEAF. It was at night, on a 45 mph street, fast enough that I believe the artificial sound does not operate. I was coming up past him, so he could see my headlights in front of him, but because of traffic in the lane to my left, I was too close when I passed him. He did not hear how close I was, and I am very, very grateful I did not hit him. I give much wider margin to bicyclists now.

 

[ztanos]

...The purpose for the noisemaker is not in a parking lot where it will likely be drowned out but on a quiet street with no traffic.

I have to disagree. I think that with much speed at all, tire noise would outweigh the noisemaker. Parking lots seem, to me, to be the main use.

I had an incident that convinced ME to leave the VSP on. I was waiting to back out of a parking space. The guy to my right was backing out, so there I was, foot on the brake, waiting until he was done. Unknown to me, a pedestrian walked up and stood right next to my driver's side tail light, also waiting for that driver to finish. We both started to move at the same time. Luckily I moved very slowly and spotted him step into view in my back window. If I hadn't turned off the VSP, he would almost certainly have realized my car was running from the back up beep. Yes, it was my responsibility to look before I moved. My only defense is that I was looking and managed to spot him before I hit him.

Does the LEAF not have backup lights? Not that it matters all the time. People live in their own little worlds.

 

[davewill]

Does the LEAF not have backup lights? Not that it matters all the time. People live in their own little worlds.

It was daytime.

 

[JimSouCal]

Does the LEAF not have backup lights? Not that it matters all the time. People live in their own little worlds.

It was daytime.

My ICE sportscar is plenty loud. Pedestrians often don't use care to look around. My assumption is any pedestrian is not looking, and when I am a pedestrian or biker, that drivers don't see me. That attitude has served me well.

We live in an age trending to distraction and self absorption. Hopefully, on a personal level, more and more of us are bucking that trend...

 

[Caracalover]

Several times I've gotten behind people walking to or from their car in a parking lot who seemed unaware that I was there. At least I don't think they were strolling down the middle of the lane between parked cars just to aggravate me. I've thought of using my horn, but that seems impolite, so I haven't. Yeah, I wouldn't mind if the VSP was louder.

Ray

Try rolling the window down and saying hello. Friendly like. Works well.

 

[JimSouCal]

Several times I've gotten behind people walking to or from their car in a parking lot who seemed unaware that I was there. At least I don't think they were strolling down the middle of the lane between parked cars just to aggravate me. I've thought of using my horn, but that seems impolite, so I haven't. Yeah, I wouldn't mind if the VSP was louder.

Ray

Try rolling the window down and saying hello. Friendly like. Works well.

That seems like a good idea. However, I was at Del Amo mall today, and encountered a slew of people walking in the middle of the road, looking at their "smart" phones, texting, or simply with two others making no effort to engage their environs.

As a small very unscientific anecdotal sampling, in small town Santa Monica, we have had an "epidemic" of pedestrians being killed this year--six so far.

I am going to maintain my awareness as a driver, pedestrian, and bicyclist as best I can...

 

[Stoaty]

As a small very unscientific anecdotal sampling, in small town Santa Monica, we have had an "epidemic" of pedestrians being killed this year--six so far.

That is a lot of people. I live in West L.A. What were the circumstances in these cases? On smart phone? Crossing street without looking? Driver error? Driver DUI?

 

[Herm]

That is a lot of people. I live in West L.A. What were the circumstances in these cases? On smart phone? Crossing street without looking? Driver error? Driver DUI?

Probably DUI, lost their license and now ride a bike drunk when they get hit by a car.. I see a lot of those.

 

[JimSouCal]

As a small very unscientific anecdotal sampling, in small town Santa Monica, we have had an "epidemic" of pedestrians being killed this year--six so far.

That is a lot of people. I live in West L.A. What were the circumstances in these cases? On smart phone? Crossing street without looking? Driver error? Driver DUI?

At least half were walking legally in crosswalks at night when they were struck, much of it around the post drinking hours.... My guess is alcohol was involved.

Here are a few of the six... Take care...

http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/family-s-vacation-ends-in-tragedy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
one of them...
http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/gordon-folo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
on Lincoln
http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/female-transient-killed-in-crosswalk-accident" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/santa-monica-woman-dead-in-hit-and-run" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/female-cyclist-killed-in-pch-hit-and-run" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Stoaty]

Here are a few of the six... Take care...

http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/family-s-vacation-ends-in-tragedy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
one of them...
http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/gordon-folo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
on Lincoln
http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/female-transient-killed-in-crosswalk-accident" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/santa-monica-woman-dead-in-hit-and-run" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/female-cyclist-killed-in-pch-hit-and-run" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Summary:

#1 - DUI driver hits pedestrian from Australia crossing against no walk sign at night
#2 - Jetlagged woman reaching for cell phone hits 82 year old crossing street during the day; no drugs/alcohol
#3 - Transient woman hit by driver turning left at night; no drugs/alcohol
#4 - Hit and run of pedestrian in crosswalk at night
#5 - Hit and run of cyclist at night on Pacific Coast Highway; she veered into #3 lane as SUV was about to pass her

 

[Leafboy]

Just stumbled onto this post. I have added a Bermuda Bell that I connected with a remote switch. Works well in parking lots and on the road for cyclists. When I have used it for cyclists they usually smile and wave at me. They are notified, but are not scared to death by my Towncar horns.

 

[padamson1]

Just stumbled onto this post. I have added a Bermuda Bell that I connected with a remote switch. Works well in parking lots and on the road for cyclists. When I have used it for cyclists they usually smile and wave at me. They are notified, but are not scared to death by my Towncar horns.

Added or replaced? I'd like to add a secondary warning device, but can't think of a place to put the trigger switch.

Either way I'd be interested in which kind you got (electronic or mechanical) and how you rigged the trigger