This crazy-driver-TV-chef Martin thing today has highlighted that silent electric cars are extremely dangerous. It seems the industry is considering it's options, I noticed this article for instance: Quiet hybrid cars may be risk for the blind.

Imagine a city full of silent 1-ton lumps of metal being driven by idiot TV chefs and their fans.

Cheers, al.

I thought this was a myth?? Most of a cars noise comes from the tyres

When in London I often used to see electric cars – compared to the general background noise they are silent. We are so used to using our ears as well as eyes when in town, not hearing them is a danger.

Apart from very busy spots – most people cross the road using only their ears & peripheral vision to detect any possible danger
They only turn to look if something registers – hence peds simply walking out on bikes & not looking

it wouldnt take long to get used to them, you very rarely hear a car coming when your driving, its just a case of gettig used to not being able to do it by ear.

> its just a case of gettig used to not being able to do it by ear.

Oh, that's alright then.

eh?!

No, really, they're dangerous.

al.

They should be designed to make that whirring noise that electric cars in science fiction movies always make.

or slap a pro2 hub on them

Most of a cars noise comes from the tyres

Only at motorway-like speeds. At, say, less than 40mph, most of the noise is produced by the engine.

Surely health and safety will require an annoying high pitched beeeeeep beeeeeeep beeeeeep on all electric vehicles in the near future.

That, or a recording of a nice V8 at full throttle!

Or maybe the song all ice cream vans make. Or would that be dangerous to children?

They could just be fitted with a small bell. People could have different tones of bell, or a selection of different bells, bamboo wind-chimes and maracas.

Imagine how much nicer a city centre would be if the sound of engines was replaced with a symphony of percussion. 😀

If there were more silent cars, I think more bicycles would need to have mirrors. And pedestrians would have to concentrate a little harder. Not the end of the world.

Or, outside speakers and a on-board karaoke machine.

Perhaps they could make the sound of coconut shells being clopped together like in Monty Python and The Holy Grail.

I like the ice-cream van idea. 🙂

hence peds simply walking out on bikes & not looking

They'd be more likely to look properly if there were a potential tonne of silent metal on the road.

I'd be more worried about the Li-ion batteries going bang!

They'd be more likely to look properly if there were a potential tonne of silent metal on the road.

I'm not sure they would
It's not as if dead people generally learn from there mistakes either 😀

I ride with earphones in, I always look rather than listen even when walking – they make no difference to my safety.

I ride with earphones in, I always look rather than listen even when walking – they make no difference to my safety

Yup we could make everyone walk around with earphones as that will make you swap what primary sense you use – when you take them out, you'll revert back
I can't find the study now – I'll have a look later maybe

In the meantime
Some more reading

Curious dead link there.

I wasn't discussing everyone else, I was commenting on my own point of view.

Why's it curious – I made a typo – now corrected

I was agreeing with you that it would work [blocking ears]

A reduction is traffic noise in our cities would be hugely welcome in my view.

However, if electric cars do take off it won't be long before the BMW's etc of the world manage to find a way of giving their electric vehicles some kind of audible cacophony to 'impress' & 'intimidate'.

I ride with earphones in, I always look rather than listen even when walking – they make no difference to my safety.

I struggle slightly with this one I'm afraid. I would consider the safest you could possibly be would be to have all of your faculties working together at all times. After all unless you ride with mirrors then you can't be looking where you're going AND over your shoulder at the same time. Your ears provide a valuable early warning system of things approaching from directions that you aren't looking in.

Listening to music also represents a distraction which slows your responses to things around you. It may not be much but it could end up with you under a lorry.

We get angry with car drivers for smoking/talking on mobiles/playing with sat navs etc etc because of the risk they pose to others. A cyclist doing the same is equally distracted but it isn't considered as much of a big deal. It really should be as I can only imagine the horror and guilt of a car driver who ended up with a cyclist splattered on their windscreen.