Nissan Presents Leaf Sound for Pedestrians...

[EVDRIVER]

I don't get all the objections to the VSP. I have normal hearing and vision, yet I had a close encounter with Prius in a parking lot when it was coasting silently into a parking space in the (I thought) empty parking lot I was cutting across. We modern humans are programmed that moving vehicles make noise, just like our ancient ancestors where programmed to the sound of a charging rhino or tiger. How many human injuries will it take to reprogram humans that some vehicles are silent? It seems that reprogramming the EV to make a human recognizable sound is a whole lot easier, and involves a whole lot less bloodshed.

Our ancient ancestors were not programmed for a multitude of modern devices and we learn as we evolve, if one walks into a parking lot today without looking and assumes a car is not there then it's their fault as the car has the right of way on the road. Noise is not the solution but the problem today just like light pollution and it's detrimental effects. There are way sot protect the disabled and the rest of us need to use common sense and stop being lazy so we don't need to have more noise. Would you point a laser pointer in your eye? How does one know not to do that? We too often think in terms of the easiest answer rather than the best.

 

[planet4ever]

Last week my wife and I were in our Prius just leaving CostCo where, for once, we had gotten a parking space close to the store. As we started down the long lane to the exit, there were three guys in front of us walking out to their vehicle, which was obviously not at all close to the store. There was no place for them to walk, except in the traffic lane, and since they were talking to each other they were walking side by side.

We crawled along behind them for what must have been more than 100 feet before one of the guys glanced back and moved to the side, pushing the other two out of our way as he went. By their head and hand signals they seemed quite apologetic about having blocked us. Now, I could have honked at them, but I didn't, because it seemed impolite to me to startle them with a loud blast. What I really would have liked would have been a quiet sound that I could activate by pulling back on the turn signal stalk, the way the Volt has apparently done it.

 

[Yodrak]

Each state has it's own laws, but in California "The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection", although "This section does not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for his or her safety. " There's more to it than that, but suffice it to say that the car and the pedestrian both have rights and obligations on the road. It is not accurate to say simply "the car has the right of way on the road".

In this case we are not talking about a road, but a parking lot. In the parking lot situation I expect that again, both cars and pedestrians have rights and obligations, with the balance shifting a bit in favor of the pedestrian.

.. if one walks into a parking lot today without looking and assumes a car is not there then it's their fault as the car has the right of way on the road. ....

Too bad Nissan apparently has the VSP turned off for the tour test drives - it would be nice to get reports from both those who accept the sound and those who oppose the sound after members of both groups have actually experienced it while driving.

 

[cdub]

Spoke to Nissan via chat today. The rep I spoke to wasn't aware that it was disabled for the events.

I asked if he could pass it on to his superiors that it gets turned on for the Century City event, at least in 1 or 2 cars.

Welcome to EV Customer Support, J**** will be right with you.

J****:
Thank you for contacting Nissan Electric Vehicle Customer Support, my name is Justin. How may I help you today Chris?

Chris:
yes.. the cars in the drive tours seem to have the pedestrian warning sounds disabled. this is a shame because i'd like to hear what it sounds like

Chris:
any chance that a couple of them could have the noise turned on for this weekend's event in Century city?

J****:
Ide be happy to help you with this Chris.

Justin:
You will have to ask one of EV specialist at the event. They may be able to activate it so you will be able to hear what it sounds like.

Chris:
hmmm ok

Chris:
because it's a shame that it's been on for the drives with the reporters but not us

Chris:
why was it disabled for these events?

J****:
I am not sure. I did not know it was. I have not had the chance to test drive one as of yet.

J****:
I agree with you, it should be active.

Chris:
can you pass this on to a supervisor perhaps?

J****:
Yes, that will not be a problem Chris.

Chris:
Great. Thanks! I'll be sure to ask people at the event too.

Chris:
But if someone higher up at HQ could know that would help.

J****:
Yes it would. It should definitely be part of the ride and drive experience.

Chris:
Well please pass it on. Thanks again

Visitor Chris has ended the chat.

So please contact Nissan and ask the same. The more people who ask... the better chance of it actually happening next weekend.

 

[ttweed]

So please contact Nissan and ask the same. The more people who ask... the better chance of it actually happening next weekend.

I included this "sound off" issue in the "My Drive Survey" after the event on the Drive Electric Tour website, under the "what did you like least about the tour?" category. You could also put it under the "what would you like to see changed" answer.

TT

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

I put a few words about this in my after-drive Survey as well.

 

[walterbays]

If our illustrious lawmakers really wanted to mandate a "middle ground," they would not legislate mufflers or VSP, but rather a necessary decibel range for all vehicles --no matter their drivetrain. They haven't done that with VSP. Instead, they target only EVs and hybrids, and completely ignore that there are many ICE cars that just as "quiet" at low speed and thus pose an equal "danger" to oblivious pedestrians.

That's way too sensible for lawmakers. And I notice you said range, i.e. a top limit as well. Instead it looks like they may require noise makers in all EV's. http://www.thisdishisvegetarian.com/2010/10/1010bill-would-require-hybrid-cars-to.html (The author of the article seems confused about the difference between a hybrid and an EV.)

So maybe to stay legal we'll all have to have 1,000 watt car stereos playing Far*East Movement rap with the bass cranked up to max. Except in Huntsville. http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=13306231 (Huntsville leaders trying to curb car stereo noise)

 

[LEAFfan]

Again, as I've said before, as long as there is a switch that we can use to turn it on and off, it's ok. I drive most of the time with my windows down, and I sure don't want to hear it while I'm in stop-and-go traffic. I would turn it on only when necessary.

 

[Nubo]

Our ancient ancestors were not programmed for a multitude of modern devices and we learn as we evolve, if one walks into a parking lot today without looking and assumes a car is not there then it's their fault as the car has the right of way on the road....

There are procedures and rules to be followed, and then there is the real world where human beings become distracted, or find themselves in a complex situation with too many inputs to handle. For example, an adult trying to cope with a cart and small children; perhaps not quite remembering where they parked... you get the picture.

These are called "Human Factors", and they are just as important an aspect of engineering as setting up rules of right-of-way, signage, etc...

One can argue that if everyone followed the rules, there would be no problems. However that approach may lead to dead bodies. Unless we favor a rather malignant form of Darwinism, we look for better answers.

Human Factors Engineering has many applications in aviation, for example. At a particular airport there was an unusually high accident rate. It was eventually determined that the taxiway markings were overly complex and could be ambiguous when the pilots were in a high-workload situation. There were some who argued that if the pilots simply followed the markings properly there would be no problems. Fortunately, human factors were taken into account and the markings were reworked and the problem went away. Consider that we are talking about professional pilots with a high degree of training. It is clear that a set of rules is not necessarily in itself sufficient even for the best of us, if human factors are not taken into account.

 

[Norway]

Last week my wife and I were in our Prius just leaving CostCo where, for once, we had gotten a parking space close to the store. As we started down the long lane to the exit, there were three guys in front of us walking out to their vehicle, which was obviously not at all close to the store. There was no place for them to walk, except in the traffic lane, and since they were talking to each other they were walking side by side.

We crawled along behind them for what must have been more than 100 feet before one of the guys glanced back and moved to the side, pushing the other two out of our way as he went. By their head and hand signals they seemed quite apologetic about having blocked us. Now, I could have honked at them, but I didn't, because it seemed impolite to me to startle them with a loud blast. What I really would have liked would have been a quiet sound that I could activate by pulling back on the turn signal stalk, the way the Volt has apparently done it.

How long before somebody hacks the mp3-file for the engine sound, and replace it with profanities? :mrgreen:

 

[cwerdna]

Wasn't sure if I should start a new thread or bump this ancient one but what's up w/Nissan putting up videos w/the wrong sound?

I just stumbled across http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk8R8HKTSZc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. The forward sound is totally wrong. It does resemble the reverse noise though.

The almost 2 year-old video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-1tCkf8BFM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; also has the sound wrong.