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View Full Version : Congress moves forward on sound pollution mandate




Fox McCloud
05-20-2010, 02:47 PM
Hands down, one of the few pleasures of driving a hybrid is cruising around in all-electric mode. There's just something that's undeniably cool about silently whisking along, but if a new auto safety bill makes its way into law, we can kiss even that one pleasure goodbye. A coalition of automotive manufacturers and advocacy groups for the blind have joined forces to make sure that silent-running vehicles will make more noise in the future. The logic is that the blind and other pedestrians are at risk of being struck by quiet hybrids and EVs. We can't really argue with that one.

If passed, the bill would have the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration propose regulations for an "alert sound" within a year and a half, and finalize the rules within three years. Drivers would not be able to turn off the noise. So far, there's no word as to how loud the noise would be or what it will sound like, but the technology already exists to make that sound signature variable – concept cars like the Brabus Smart High Voltage EV shown above can simulate the sound of everything from a buzzing bee to a good ol' American V8 with hidden speakers inside and outside of the vehicle, with the sound varying according to engine speed. If we absolutely have to be making a racket while we drive on all-electric power, we vote for sounding like George Jetson's daily commuter, but we're not exactly crazy about user-selectable EV 'ringtones,' lest one's daily commute become an auditory assalt of Star Wars Tie Fighters and clydesdales.

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I've always thought this was the dumbest thing Congress could possibly work on, for multiple reasons. First off, no one has a right to travel or a right to a specific type of travel (nor a certain level of safety or enjoyment in travel either). In any event, I really don't see the point of this for regular pedestrians as they should be on the specific lookout for vehicles, which leads to the second group its supposed to cover; the blind. Again, this is catering to a special interest group at the expense of the rest of society and establishing an "I have a right to travel any way I please!" mentality (you can thank similar legislation for the types of doors we have an braille on buttons that the blind would likely never have access too).

What next? Adding flashing wonky lights to cars to alert the deaf for fear they won't hear cars? Or maybe we should mandate they emit a distinct smell so that the deaf-blind will be able to detect when a car is coming as well. It seems ridiculous, but that's how one can draw out the stupidity in an argument---ad absurdum.