The hybrid fake engine sound is annoying, thank goodness there's a fix

[OrangeBlue]

Imagine your child getting their skull bounced off the pavement because she turned her bike in front of a nearly silent hybrid she didn't hear.

That's an annoying sound.

Imagine fingernails scraping on a chalkboard.

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[brnpttmn]

Q: Is it fair and statistically correct to compare 8,387 Hybrid vehicles to 559,703 ICE vehicles?

It is. The low sample size caveat likely relates to less reliability when analyzing certain subsets of the data (not the top line numbers) since they only observed 77 HEV accidents. Plus the follow-up study included 25K+ HEVs. For the follow-up, their findings are pretty solid. Statistically significant odds ratios of 1.35 (peds) and 1.56 (bikes) fir accidents for HEV versus ICE in slow-speed maneuvers. No statistically significant difference for higher-speed / straight driving. Kind of a built in validation for the sound "design" being the primary design flaw leading to the excess incidents.

Here's the follow-up study's power analsysis (p 9):

If a minimum 80 percent statistical power is required for this study and a conventional statistical significance level of 5 percent is used, the minimum sample sizes required for the case-control studies can be estimated. For example, if the size ratio (ICE to HE) is 30 due to many more ICE than HE vehicles in the study, then the minimum sample size needed for HE vehicles is 13,203, and the 24,297 HE vehicles in the analysis are enough to meet the 80 percent power requirement.

 

[NJBob]

Would be nice if you could customize the noise it makes. You can choose from a few different ones.

 

[GPSMan]

Would be nice if you could customize the noise it makes. You can choose from a few different ones.

As long as it was a few "standard" ones.

I think part of the rationale is, the sound has to be recognizable as a car. Adding cow bell or sleigh bell or cat purr may not accomplish that.

 

[GPSMan]

Interestingly, with the larger sample size the % odds went down.

Still higher than ICE but not as dramatic. Also they spelled out Prius comprised 61% of HEV's studied, and also pointed out they were worse than average. Wonder why. Small rear window? Small mirrors? Something else?


"This update further extends the analysis to various other vehicle samples with similar results. For example a comparison of all HE versus ICE passenger vehicles regardless of makes and models indicates that the odds of any HE passenger vehicle being in a pedestrian crash are 22 percent greater than the odds of any ICE passenger vehicle."

 

[Benilla]

Homie is holding onto that $100 for dear life

 

[mktmgrjrm]

I absolutely cannot believe that I've wasted time following this ridiculous nine page thread. Simple fact is that in the US the 'noise maker' is mandated by law. Remove it and hurt someone, good luck in a court of law. How about the scofflaws also disconnect their tail and brake lights so they can have a truly stealth Mav.

 

[HotJombalya]

Just entirely epic, this entire thread. I also love that’s it’s a revived thread from the spring.

 

[DarkStormy]

If you click on the link you will see that the company has a new product that allows you to turn the UFO sound off and on with a remote FOB.
https://www.megaohmmotorsports.com/
Looks like a good compromise, turn it on in busy urban areas, off in the country.

 

[Michaelkov]

My EV (VW ID4) has a space ship sound when driving slowly.
It is a head turner
In a few years there will be an aftermarket business for sound tuning all the electric vehicles ..
I would use this one for my reverse

 

[Bushpilot]

Kudos for taking a serious shot at providing a serious study. Partial credit earned. But how trusting of that "study" are you?

For example, screen shots taken directly from:

Keep those DMV record dates above in mind when reading the following:

Two "comparable groups of HEV's and ICE's were selected for analysis (case vs. control)". Sounds all scientific.

HEV Case Group:
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Camry
Toyota Prius
Honda Civic
Honda Accord

ICE Control Group:
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Camry
Honda Accord
Honda Civic

Prius had no "partner" but hey, they "tried" to compare apples to apples right? WRONG!

Toyota Prius hit the streets in 2000.
Honda Accord Hybrid in 2005.
Honda Civic Hybrid in 2005.
Toyota Camry Hybrid in 2007.
Toyota Corolla not until MY2019!

How can these "hybrids" be studied that did not exist at the time?

Also, sales of the Accord Hybrid was miserably low, and was discontinued in 2007. Honda Civic Hybrid, and Toyota Camry Hybrid sales were also low in the years under study.

So basically, upwards of 90% of all data in the study came from Toyota Prius accident data.

Q: Why "pretend" this was a well rounded peer reviewed study?

Q: Why "pretend" they had substantial numbers of data points to compare?

Q: Why flat out lie about having Corolla Hybrids in the study? I just don't get that part.

They probably had a handful of Accords, Civics, and and Camrys.
Vast majority had to be Prius.

Q: Could there be a design issue with the Prius other than sound, such as blind spots, poorly places mirrors, small mirrors, tiny rear window, etc also contributing to car vs. pedestrian incidents?

IIRC, you asked for 10 examples. That study, and several sources easily found by anyone bothering to look, meets and exceeds your request.

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