Nissan Gives Electric Cars Blade Runner Audio Effect 553
mateuscb writes "A campaign backed by automakers and some lawmakers to make electric or hybrid cars noisier in a bid to increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists has taken a strange, Blade Runner-type twist. Nissan sound engineers have announced that the Leaf electric car set for release next year will emit a 'beautiful and futuristic' noise similar to the sound of flying cars — or 'spinners' — that buzz around 2019 Los Angeles in Ridley Scott's dystopian thriller based on a Philip K. Dick science fiction novel."
But... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
I will change it to a ominous hum.
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Tie Fighter anyone?
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I want the Jaws theme music.
Re:But... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:But... (Score:5, Informative)
But at TFS says, it's a 'safety feature', I'd imagine you could 'turn it off' about as easily as the airbags or that thing that beeps when you're in reverse, and that's not without messing with wiring.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_flag_laws
These proposals are just as idiotic.
It's the drivers' responsibility to maintain control of their vehicles and be cognizant of sudden dangers in the street. Any attempts delegate this responsibility onto pedestrians, wildlife, and falling trees are completely retarded.
Re:But... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's the drivers' responsibility to maintain control of their vehicles and be cognizant of sudden dangers in the street. Any attempts delegate this responsibility onto pedestrians, wildlife, and falling trees are completely retarded.
I agree that this is the driver's responsibility, but considering we're talking about stopping people from getting smooshed by cars, is alerting pedestrians as a sort of back up system really that objectionable?
Re:But... (Score:5, Insightful)
Try being blind and then guessing when it's safe to cross the road...
Ok, but... the economics are backwards (Score:4, Interesting)
Try being blind and then guessing when it's safe to cross the road...
I've read the articles where the blind people are freaked out by hybrid cars that they can't hear (when the car pulls away from a stop, for example). We can all understand why we want blind people to know there is a moving vehicle near them.
The thing is, simple economics dictates that it would make far more sense to equip the blind people with car proximity sensors of some kind, rather than make every car noisy.
There are far fewer blind people than cars. We can reasonably assume that in the future there will be many more hybrid or electric cars which produce little to no sound at low speeds.
Imagine the benefit of having areas free from engine noise - why artificially make every car noisy just for the safety of a very small portion of the population who can't see them?
It'd be easy enough to equip every car with something that produces ultrasonic sound or low power radio waves, and give blind people a device they can wear that will detect the car proximity signal and indicate to the blind person (perhaps by vibration) where nearby cars are.
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I'm willing to bet the wheels on pavement are enough of a sound for someone who is constantly using hearing to find out what is going on around them.
I had the experience of being sneaked up on by a Prius on in a narrow street last year. The ground was very clean (none of the loose salt/sand that is often on the roads in the northeast) and its gas engine must have been off-- that vehicle was absolutely silent. I gained an appreciation for the issue of lack of vehicle noise that day. Perhaps at 60mph tires make a noise, but at the low speeds on streets they aren't always discernible.
Re:But... (Score:5, Insightful)
As someone who used to commute via bike, I say it's pretty freaky having a hybrid come whooshing by, even if it's in a different lane. Almost as bad as a city bus, which has it's engine in the back so you don't hear it until the bus is practically on top of you. A little audible warning would be nice. It doesn't need to sound like a Harley to be effective.
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As someone who used to commute via bike, I say it's pretty freaky having a hybrid come whooshing by, even if it's in a different lane. Almost as bad as a city bus, which has it's engine in the back so you don't hear it until the bus is practically on top of you. A little audible warning would be nice. It doesn't need to sound like a Harley to be effective.
May be better for you to start using a rear view mirror. Just like trucks, cars, motorbikes and mopeds. Or a rear view camera if you want to be high tec
Re:But... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
Then they really shouldn't be driving at all...
Re:But... (Score:5, Insightful)
Uhhh if he's not jaywalking and reached the corner first and you are at a distance where it is safe for you to stop then yeah.... You really should stop...
If you are driving at a speed through an intersection where you are unable to stop if something comes out then you are a danger and will hopefully have your license taken before you kill anyone.
People crossing at the crosswalk aren't idiots. The right of way is NOT determined by who dies or everyone would be driving tanks and walking anywhere would be completely impossible. Main st in my town is a 60zone with lots of cars, the way you are talking you sound like you'd be happy splitting the city into essentially little islands.
Re:But... (Score:4, Interesting)
THOSE are the ones that suck so much, because people will just blindly wander into the street full of moving cars, but because they're in their precious painted part of the pavement, we're all supposed to immediately come to a dead halt.
Why?
Why isn't it 100% the fault of the dumb ped that walks into traffic? Let me repeat that -- regardless of the law, or paint on the pavement, or anything else, crossing the road when cars are coming is walking into traffic. There aren't many dumber things a human can do.
That doesn't mean that drivers should be looking for people to run down, but I have seen way too many close-calls where soomeone almost gets hit. The pedestrian usually gets furious -- "I'm walkin' here! Right of way!" -- but has absolutely no right to be angry about almost being hit by a car when he chose to walk into a road full of moving cars.
The proper course of action is to wait until the cars have passed and then go. If a driver hits you, it won't help you that he's liable under the law when you're a smear on the pavement. So take some responsibility, stop assuming the law is a magic shield against physics, and wait for the cars to clear.
When car drivers stop being selfish idiots (Score:4, Interesting)
Pedestrians must have a sense of responsibility. All road users should do. As a cyclist, I can tell you I am very passionate in my belief that car drivers also should have a sense of responsibility and alas a small minority do not, and drive like idiots (this is also true of cyclists).
If a person weighing 150lbs* bumps into me, I am happy enough to accept a spoken apology. Drivers of a ton of steel must take much more responsibility for their action as their mistakes KILL. I can tell you that a minority do not. When I lived in London I'd expect one near miss a week (as in possible hospitalisation) cycling to work and back in the city centre. Drivers turning without indicating and forcing me to hit the brakes/jump onto the pavement and possibly endanger pedestrians, drivers opening their car doors into the traffic a couple of metres ahead of me without checking for traffic, parked cars pulling out without checking their mirrors. Nearly been hit by them all.
You are very right, people should behave responsibly on the road, and those people driving larger vehicles definitely must be extra careful.
* As an aside my friend, lighten up and love yourself a bit more. "150 fleshbag" - what a terrible expression! Human bodies are fine engineering and beautiful things. Love yourself a little more. Get out and do some walking, cycle, rock climb, enjoy that body! It's what you've got to live in so love it, enjoy it, use it to the limit, don't despite it :-)
Re:But... (Score:5, Informative)
Do pedestrians really always have the right of way in the US?
There are no national traffic enforcement laws in the US; each individual state sets their own. The national government only provides financial incentives for the states' laws to meet certain criteria.
Pedestrian right-of-way laws vary considerably across the country and are a dissonant mix of historic inertia and regional practicality. In Boston or New Orleans, jaywalking is common and pedestrians routinely cross streets where and when they choose. The local courts will invariably find the driver at fault. In Washington DC or New York, jaywalking laws are actually enforced. In Salt Lake City or San Diego, jaywalking is extremely rare and drivers are given more leniency in the courts.
A few things are fairly universal:
-For the most part, pedestrians have the absolute right-of-way, anytime and anywhere.
-If you hit somebody near a school, a playground, or a school bus, you will always be at fault, under the assumption that you were driving too fast to stop for a child.
-If the pedestrian is actually trying to be hit (i.e. suicide attempt/insurance fraud...not just crossing recklessly), the driver is generally not liable.
-Striking a pedestrian on a limited access highway where they are not allowed will usually result in both parties being held responsible.
As a foreigner driving in the US, don't make any assumptions about pedestrian rights-of-way until you are familiar with the local laws.
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In England we have no jaywalking offence, so if someone crosses the road far enough ahead of you for you to stop, then it is your responsibility not to hit them. Most of our town centre roads are capped at 30mph (20mph around schools), so it's basically the driver's problem.
Pedestrians have priority at pedestrian crossings when the signals are in their favour, zebra crossings at all times, and at road junctions without crossings if you start crossing before the car turns (this is specifically mentioned in t
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If you step out on to the crosswalk distractedly, it's my responsibility as a driver to stop. I've never had a problem doing this. And if I'm so close that I can't stop for the crosswalk, that means I'll be through it before the pedestrian has walked out past the parked cars. It's my duty as a driver to slow down near crosswalks and intersections, in case I need to yield.
Where I as a driver shouldn't have to be on high alert is in the middle of the road with no crosswalk in sight (excluding school zones, re
Re:But...What about Hit, Backups, and Runs? (Score:4, Funny)
As someone who lives in Nepal, and drives a motorbike in India, the things drivers shed to pedestrians is not wanted. Like the habit of backing up and running you over again if hit, to avoid paying the family of the squashed pedestrian any compensation. Please tell drivers in the Bihar that this is not acceptable, and the practice should be stopped immediately.
As far as ringtones for my next electric vehicle (my first was a Chinese motorbike), I will install the Tata Truck ringtone , which sounds like any other on the road. It's the one noise that instills fear in all creatures near the highway. Sounding like a cylon raider will do nothing to keep peds safe here.
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I used to drive a Mazda RX2, which was much quieter than the average car, and it was funny to drive up behind pedestrians walking down the middle of a side street or someone on a bicycle before they realized there was a car behind them. So, why didn't someone have this bright idea then? Could it be because these new quieter cars are electric?
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More likely because they are main stream and in a growing market.
Re:But... (Score:4, Interesting)
Some noise is needed, because pedestrians are so stupid.
So instead of taking the opportunity to quiet our cities, which are an absolute noise nightmare, we are going to legislate more noise. Can you imagine a stream of bumper to bumper traffic and the noise that would create?
Wouldn't it be easier for the blind or deaf to carry s little 360 degree Doppler radar which would squeal or vibrate when something is approaching faster then their gate?
Wouldn't that make more sense than making city environments more unpleasant for every one else?
You could fund this with gas/battery tax revenues. You could build it into mp3 players.
Such a device will work for cyclists as well as pedestrians.
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Next we'll have the kiddie ring tones and the nerdy Phytonesque "Run Away!!! Run Away!!!".
Greatâ¦
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I will change it to a ominous hum.
And some giggling teenager will change it to a loud burping noise.
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I'll just have it emit whatever's playing on my stereo.
If I'm not playing anything, well then the choices are endless aren't they?
Tie fighter? Popcorn popping? Porn sounds? Crying baby? Lightsaber hum? Maniacal laughter?
Hell, I could have a different sound every day!
ASCAP (Score:5, Funny)
I'll just have it emit whatever's playing on my stereo.
ASCAP or another major performance rights organization would bust a CAP in your AS for that. The music on your stereo probably isn't licensed for an intentional public performance.
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
...one of the nice things about electric cars is that they're so quiet. Can you turn the sound off?
By then we will not download ringtones anymore, but cartones. Think of the possibilities! Make your Focus sound like a Ferrari, make it swing like Michael Jackson. Living next to the highway will be very entertaining.
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
Living next to the highway will be very entertaining.
Someone at RIAA just had a great idea.
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
More like an erection.
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Forget the RIAA... ASCAP will be charging car owners the performance fee.
Didn't some ASCAP-alike company try that with ringtones some time ago? Oh wait.. that -was- ASCAP.
http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/22/225207/ASCAP-Wants-To-Be-Paid-When-Your-Phone-Rings [slashdot.org]
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Too late. This is already part of Shai Agassi's plan [evworld.com] according to an interview with him that I read somewhere (it's not mentioned in the linked article; I seem to remember the trademark may be "drive sounds".)
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
I mean, seriously, a "whooshing" sound would be more credible. A soundtrack is too garish.
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No, This is what The Spinners sound like [youtube.com]. However my car will sound like this [youtube.com].
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Oh great. Ring^W Car-tones you can download, just what we needed. This is going to be annoying ...
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Ummm, that's the soundtrack to Bladerunner.
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Speaking of whooshes...
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According to the article, the sound is supposed to turn off after the car reaches 12 mph because at that point they say the tire noise is enough to let you be able to hear it adequately.
It's Not About Safety, It's About Macho (Score:2)
We're Americans, dammit. Electric Cars, making no noise, are dainty and prissy. Carbonalicious Cars that go Vrooom-Vroooom, these are the cars that Real Men drive.
I'm saying it in a snarky way (it's my curse), but you know that is what the auto-marketers are thinking. Safety? Oh, please...!
Re:It's Not About Safety, It's About Macho (Score:5, Funny)
I want mine to make the sound of a Bell HU-1 ...with optional Wagner overlay.
Re:It's Not About Safety, It's About Macho (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's Not About Safety, It's About Macho (Score:5, Funny)
My friend owns a Prius, and if it's moving at a fairly low speed you won't hear it at all.
All you hear are the horrifying screams of the pedestrians being mowed down at 3 mph.
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I always assumed there'd be other sources of noise, e.g. the tires - but that thing can be eerily quiet.
So can any modern, well-built small car from 100 feet away when travelling less than 12 mph.
Really, the noise is basically useless if you are less than about 40 feet away, as you probably won't be able to avoid the car by noise alone with less than 2 seconds notice. And, from 100 feet away, unless you are gliding in neutral and revving the engine, a car moving 12mph is basically silent.
Try it sometime...stand with your back to a car that starts 200 feet from you in a normally noisy parking lot, have it mov
go drive through a walmart parking lot (Score:5, Insightful)
At least 75% of the pedestrians don't look *either* way.
The mouth breathers are of the belief that 8 oz of striping paint will stop 3 tons of Detroit steel.
Just what we need - more noise. (Score:2, Insightful)
But one of the nice things about electric cars is that they're so quiet. Can you turn the sound off?
If it can't be turned off, then I, for one, won't be buying one. Modern life is noisy enough as it is.
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But one of the nice things about electric cars is that they're so quiet. Can you turn the sound off?
If it can't be turned off, then I, for one, won't be buying one. Modern life is noisy enough as it is.
Of *course* it can be turned off. Find the speakers, grab some diagonal cutters...
Re:Just what we need - more noise. (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably it'll be illegal to turn it off. The same way it's illegal to drive at night with the lights out.
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> ...one of the nice things about electric cars is that they're so quiet.
It depends on the point of view and amount of noise.
> Can you turn the sound off?
Maybe not. In Japan, a law has been discussed, which would require cars to make some sound, as there were some accidents involving hybrid cars, which were too silent.
Streets in resedential areas in Japan can be quite narrow with buildings close to both sides. So cars are driving relatively slow and you
can't look very far around the corners of a cross
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Your comment ridicules itself.
Do electric sheep (Score:2)
Do electric sheep make noise as well in 2019?
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Only in your dreams.
Re:Do electric sheep (Score:5, Funny)
Only in your dreams.
But are they really your dreams?
Re:Do electric sheep (Score:5, Funny)
Get your ass to Mars.
they make that electric noise and if it's a sony r (Score:2)
they make that electric noise and if it's a sony run a way before the battery blows up.
Siren Noise (Score:5, Funny)
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You are not replying to a youtube post, it was just a joke ;)
Re:Siren Noise (Score:5, Funny)
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You cannot be serious about that remark!
Modified Quote (Score:2)
It's too bad they won't live. But then again, what does.
Put a card in the spokes (Score:5, Funny)
Just put a card in the spokes. Yea, it's nerdy, but so is the car.
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/bto/20090918/NISSAN_EV6.jpg [com.com]
Ffffffsssss (Score:5, Funny)
I would want that sound that the USS Enterprise makes as it whizzes through space...
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Technically... It already does and that appears to be the "problem". :-)
This issue is ridiculous and assumes that the blind and inattentive notice any sound all the time. My Civic is super quite at slow speeds. Should it also be *required* to be louder?
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The Jetsons! (Score:5, Funny)
I want my car to sound like the flying cars from The Jetsons [getdropbox.com]. Then I can at least pretend that I got the future I was promised as a child.
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Sure. Just stick it on an Aptera [google.ca] and you're half-way there. Just missing the flying bit.
Mazda announces their EV warning sound... (Score:5, Funny)
In response, Mazda has announced that their cars will play an endless loop of a 6 year old saying "zoom-zoom!"
Car Ring Tones!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
From the article ~ "Some reports suggest that in the future, car owners will download a sound for their car the way many consumers buy ring tones for their cellphones."
Oh crap, now we have to listen to cars playing crappy tunes on bad speakers all the time. Can't their be a law against this proposed. I think a few dead pedestrians is worth the loss of the noise pollution.
A new revenue opportunity. (Score:3, Funny)
Sean
ringtone (Score:2, Funny)
Great...
What's next? A ringtone for your car?
Interesting job title (Score:2)
What exactly would these people do on a daily basis?
Re:Interesting job title (Score:5, Interesting)
I would imagine they're normally responsible for minimizing road noise, engine noise heard inside the cabin, making the stereo sound good in the aurally hostile environment that is an automobile, etc.
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Presumably their normal work is making cars *quieter*, since that's what normal people want. (At least, making the interiors quieter.) I'm guessing none of them were hired with the job description: "make car noisier."
Re:Interesting job title (Score:5, Funny)
Rewire it (Score:2)
Tap into your stereo, problem of silly noises solved.
Strange world (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Strange world (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't like cars sneaking up on me when I'm on foot. Do you?
Then stop walking in the middle of the road.
Example of the sound (Score:4, Informative)
Deaf people cope (Score:3, Insightful)
They actually bother to look, unlike many pedestrians who listen for traffic. Cyclists have to brake sharp or take evasive action to avoid these clowns.
Re:Deaf people cope (Score:5, Insightful)
Blind people don't have the option of looking.
Ringtone cars (Score:5, Funny)
Please not ringtone cars. Please please please. It's ten years into the future and I can't stand it already.
Do Leafs sound like dreams of Electric Sheep? (Score:2)
The answer is obvious (Score:2)
Just make massive subwoofers and reggaeton mandatory, problem solved.
I'm not sold... (Score:3, Insightful)
@#%&!* Teasers! (Score:3, Funny)
They smell like flying cars, they sound like flying cars, they look like flying cars [whifbitz.co.uk], they probably even taste like flying cars, but they CANNOT give us a . . .damned . . . FLYING . . . CAR !?
Downloadable (Score:3, Interesting)
Like ringtones.
I mean, if Nissan dosn't catch a clue about this, it'll be hacked anyway.
boots're made for (Score:4, Informative)
Your eyes aren't everything - I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm much faster to react to something I hear over something I see.
I live in a fairly large city in the northeast US. I walk a lot, but not like true urban walking - it's a mile and a half to the train station, and I walk it twice a day outside of light groceries and the like. I grew up walking in NYC and its suburbs, and I've been lucky enough to never actually need a driver's license. My feet do me just fine for most things.
So believe me when I say that the idea of a truly silent car terrifies me. I look both ways when I cross the street, I don't habitually jaywalk, I follow street signs and stay on the curb until the light changes, but if all that fails or if a driver isn't paying the same kind of attention I am to the road (he has a steel cage around him; I don't) I rely on my ears. I've had my ass saved on more than one occasion by hearing a car swinging around a corner towards me that I couldn't see yet.
There are a lot of stupid drivers on the road. There are also a lot of careless or over-confident pedestrians. But I can't see this as a bad thing - my eyes might keep me from walking out into the middle of traffic, but my ears are what get me to step back quickly onto the curb because somebody in a car isn't being careful.
I want my car to sound like a car (Score:3, Insightful)
Electric cars should have the noise of cars.
Do Environmentalists Dream of Electric Cars? (Score:3, Funny)
The "bladerunner" sound is cool but a bad idea (Score:3, Interesting)
The sound should be as un-musical and as noiselike as possible. White noise and impulses are much easier to localize. It is almost impossible to identify the direction from which a narrowband signal is coming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdmPouNLTlU [youtube.com]
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I assume road noise is not enough. People are very good at tuning out noise. I hardly hear the truck reversing sound any more. Same with car alarms. Wonder how they will get around that.
Car alarms make me always wanna smash the windows. Then at least they have a reason to annoy me.
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We're more sophisticated now... (Score:3, Funny)
...why a fart noise when you could play the Brown Noise?