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Sound alerts one of our five senses to danger/opportunity in our environment. It only makes common sense to have large fast dangerous vehicles ((unlike people walking or on bikes or rollerskates)) make a sound.
Reminds me of the Nanny State Requirement to have a backup sound on vehicles==you know, because it is inherently more dangerous and alerts people to pay more attention.
Nanny State: the good that comes from taxes.
Without the lifestyle fascists, how would the human race has possibly survived, let alone thrived, until now?
Well Ken–indeed we have thrived and this video is an example of just how we did it.
Ain’t life great?
Yes, stupid sounds coming from an electric scooter is a perfect example of how humans managed to not die out during the stone age.
I agree bobbo. Even now, driving at night in the county, you have a danger of hitting a moose or deer. Having synthetic sounds to match the environment expect that such sounds could be cancelled inside the vehicle with modern technology (like with earphones.)
I bet Domino’s sales have gone up with that gimmick. Advertising that makes you smile or laugh… always good.
Meh, i deleted something by accident. I’m sure you get the gist…
Damn, now I’m hungry for pizza…
Can’t wait to hear the first electric Septic Tank pump truck!
How do you know when it craps out?
I’d not be happy driving that scooter making silly sounds. What would be wrong with an engine type noise, instead of a annoying commercial sound.
Umm…nothing would be “wrong” with a normal engine sound — but we sure as hell wouldn’t be talking about Domino’s Pizza right now — and that’s the point.
Make it the annoying harley davidson sound, you know those motorcycles bought by 50 year old man-children.
Sorry, I want my car to be as quiet as possible. That’s why I added all the sound deadening.
I suppose you could have them make farting sounds. I’m told those are popular as aps.
On a slightly more serious note, various horns exist that make a louder sound the harder you blow through them/the faster you go up to a point. They used to sell them to kids to stick on bikes. You could stick them on cars. They require no power and there is a limit on how loud they get.
I remember driving with a friend in his Prius when they were first introduced. He’d catch people unawares and startle the crap out of them by driving up to them utterly silently.
I wonder what Anders Behring Breivik would think of this?
Is this the act of the allegedly intelligent European white race?
Furthermore, can you imagine the cacophony at the depot in the morning when there are several of these starting up?
I’d have made it so that the gizmo made FARTING sounds….
And did you notice how there are so many people on bikes?
Yeah, many people on bikes: That’s because it’s the Netherlands. Lots of bikes there. And that’s exactly the reason why they wanted to have these bikes make sounds; these scooters are supposed to drive on the bicycle lanes, but they’re much faster than bicycles, so they scare the sh*t out of you if they zoom past you without you noticing it before.
Actually, that weird warbling sound that Jetson’s flying car made would be a perfect sound for future electric vehicles.
You mean this?
Yeah, that’d work…
Or make it sound like my KV in World of Tanks
Bobbo would make a law to compel you to make artificial fart noises for SBDs. Damn intrusive fascists.
Bobbo kind of reminds me of the religious right. Just more annoying.
All hail Obama! All hail Obama! All hail Obama! He is the Alpha and the Omega!
He’s the BLACK JESUS!
Those newfangled electric cars and scooters should make a clippity clop sound, like horses’ hooves. Because that’s how backward thinking this really is.
This minimum noise requirement is B.S. All the luxury car makers have been advertising for years, how they’re making their cars quieter, inside and out. When my sister’s Nissan pulls up my driveway, I swear I can barely hear it. And it’s NOT a hybrid! But as soon at the electric models started showing up, in tiny numbers, the cry babies started complaining they were too quiet. If they’re blind, how did they know they even encountered any of them? The anti-electric car lobby put them up to this. Probably giving the blind a substantial contribution to their own group. The same way the Heart Association got money from the tobacco industry, to lay off the anti-smoking message. The “anti-electric car” lobby? Well, call them what you may, they exist. The electric require far fewer after market parts and lubricants, to keep them going. So naturally, MOPAR, AC Delco, JC Whitney, and the major US automakers themselves, aren’t in love with the electric car. So they’ve been sabotaging their recent customer appeal at every turn.
Ya know, when the first ever automobiles can into use. Someone had to walk in front them, carrying and waving a red flag or lantern. To warns pedestrians and the horses, so they would not be spooked. The early cars were also not allowed to drive over a given speed limit, while in the city. Which I believe was 5 mph.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_flag_laws
Is requiring a silent car, to make noise, any less ridiculous? Maybe we should let the Quakers have their way, too. And disassemble your vehicle and hide the parts whenever farm animals are on the road.
Also –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotive_Acts
“The 1865 act required all road locomotives, which included automobiles, to travel at a maximum of 4 mph (6 km/h) in the country and 2 mph (3 km/h) in towns and have a crew of three travel, one of whom should carry a red flag walking 60 yards (55 m) ahead of each vehicle.”
“The restrictions in the earlier act were encouraged by those with interests in the UK railway industry and horse-drawn carriages.”
Nobody said anything back then, about blind pedestrians having to be warned about what was coming.
BTW, I now know the perfect sound the electric cars should make. A tiny human voice singing “99 bottles of beer”. Makes noise, and encourage beer sales. A two-fer.
[shameless plug] In my novel Cyberchild (99 cents on the Kindle!) one of the minor characters runs a car shop where, among other services, he add sound kits to e-cars to make them sound like they have glass packs.