I can only guess you drive diesel. Some petrols are quiet, as is the EV encountered by the OP. Given time, the law will change. It's an engineering flaw.
Cars with no noise.
- Thread starter ericmark
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And that's fine by me. We too, have chosen more frugal vehicles, and I am sure many people up and down the country are doing the same. In fact, I'm just teetering on the point of making my next company car electric. This is exactly what I mean about fixing the (widely acknowledged) problems with car use, whilst still trying to retain the undoubted benefits that the motor car brings, rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Living where I do, I don't have the luxury of train and bus transport as options to me. I'm 8 miles from my nearest branch line and nearly 40 miles from a mainline station. I have one bus a week, at a time that doesn't really help with anything I'd be likely to want to do.
Incidentally, my current "ridiculously oversized SUV" (as you might call it) or "fairly normal-sized MPV" (as I would call it), has also returned 60 MPG (and slightly more, in fact) on a couple of recent tankfuls, so that should tell you that you've made some incorrect assumptions about my vehicle, my driving, (or both)!
And while we're on the topic of incorrect assumptions arising from what are obviously deeply-entrenched prejudices, I don't believe I can "whizz past cyclists with inches to spare in the greatest safety", because I can't trust cyclists to maintain a steady course. Sadly, some cyclists seem to think that in slow-moving traffic can whizz past me with inches to spare in the greatest safety (and usually up my inside!), but hey, they're cyclists, it's OK for them to do it... right...?
No, we're not going to see eye-to eye. You're far too prejudiced in your views for that. "Driving fast" will mean different things to different people. Your enthusiasm for 20 MPH limits, suggests to me that you feel 30 MPH is "driving fast". In which case, yes, I admit it... it's a fair cop... I do like "driving fast"...
The current noise limits are the same for petrol and diesel-engined vehicles...
I have a hybrid that, when manoeuvring slowly (e.g. out of a parking space) makes a soft whooshing noise. At first I thought it was the power steering pump. It sounds rather like brake pads rubbing on rusty disks. But it continues for a moment after you stop. And I think it comes from the back when you are reversing. At suburban speeds it makes a spinning noise. My neighbour had a car that made a motor noise like a milkfloat. Hard to tell if these noises are mechanical or electronic
Cyclists are silent when racing down the side of traffic queues. I recently discovered my great-grandfather was fatally injured by one when he was knocked over and hit his head on the curb
Cyclists are silent when racing down the side of traffic queues. I recently discovered my great-grandfather was fatally injured by one when he was knocked over and hit his head on the curb
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The problem is we have over the years got to recognise the sound, I stopped in Spain trying to work out who was talking to me, and nearly got run over, as a wagons reversing beeper instead of beep beep beep was saying in Spanish beware I am reversing, had a sales man try to sell me one in the UK, but when the boss asked how it knew if to speak Welsh or English he had no answer, beep beep beep is far better universal language. As to hiss hiss hiss, that's daft, too many items make white noise.
As to the push bike or in my case e-Bike again a problem, ring ones bell and people jump, in my case blowing the horn people don't expect bikes to have horns, and be it a bike about to pass a pedestrian or a car passing a bike, to ring bell or blow horn just before passing is likely to make people jump and cause rather than guard against an accident.
Although there is quite a winding noise from my motor on the e-bike, people tend not to hear it, saying good afternoon as one approaches seems better than a bell or horn, blowing the horn is seen as being aggressive.
The main problem with the e-bike is the anti-motorcycle bars on cycle tracks means I can't have mirrors as then bike will not fit through the bars, any mirror less than my body width I can't see past my own body, these
effectively stop cyclists having mirrors. Even pedestrians have problems 
and they don't stop motor bikes anyway, so rather pointless. However until banned there is a problem Sustrans does give assess sizes, and at 1250 mm width I could have handle bar mirrors, however there is a second problem for me, getting my bike on the train, even when bike bends in the middle I can't get the bike into the carriages except for the special adapted disabled carriage. And even on the veranda to close gates on the carriage I need to fold the bike, so again a problem if I fit handle bar mirrors. So sound is the only way to know when some thing is behind one.
As to the push bike or in my case e-Bike again a problem, ring ones bell and people jump, in my case blowing the horn people don't expect bikes to have horns, and be it a bike about to pass a pedestrian or a car passing a bike, to ring bell or blow horn just before passing is likely to make people jump and cause rather than guard against an accident.
Although there is quite a winding noise from my motor on the e-bike, people tend not to hear it, saying good afternoon as one approaches seems better than a bell or horn, blowing the horn is seen as being aggressive.
The main problem with the e-bike is the anti-motorcycle bars on cycle tracks means I can't have mirrors as then bike will not fit through the bars, any mirror less than my body width I can't see past my own body, these
effectively stop cyclists having mirrors. Even pedestrians have problems and they don't stop motor bikes anyway, so rather pointless. However until banned there is a problem Sustrans does give assess sizes, and at 1250 mm width I could have handle bar mirrors, however there is a second problem for me, getting my bike on the train, even when bike bends in the middle I can't get the bike into the carriages except for the special adapted disabled carriage. And even on the veranda to close gates on the carriage I need to fold the bike, so again a problem if I fit handle bar mirrors. So sound is the only way to know when some thing is behind one.
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I have no idea if that truck's noise was "white noise" (didn't sound like my definition of white noise) but I have nearly come a cropper walking in my supermarket car park when e vehicles reverse out of spaces. This is partly the fault of the driver not backing in but some kind of beep/tone would help.
We had a lift installed at work once that took ages to be commissioned because it only "spoke Spanish" for the blind and somehow getting the language changed took forever. We were gagging for a blind Spanish visitor but sadly never had one.
We had a lift installed at work once that took ages to be commissioned because it only "spoke Spanish" for the blind and somehow getting the language changed took forever. We were gagging for a blind Spanish visitor but sadly never had one.
What vehicle I drive is immaterial .
It is material if you mistakenly believe every car sounds like a tractor. Some are very quiet. The tire noise doesn't warn because it's mostly constant white nose that the brain blocks out.
I have come close to being hit by cars reversing out of drives, which way should I have been looking? Should I have been using xray vision?
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You still haven’t explained how the deaf cross the road safely .
Everyone should be danger aware at all times.
That's because no one in this thread is deaf. We wouldn't know.
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Carefully is the answer.
I used to know a lot of deaf people, and they just learnt to be cautious
it was harder for a colleague of mine who was partially sighted. He relied more on sound than vision as by the time he saw a vehicle, it was too late to cross safely
I used to know a lot of deaf people, and they just learnt to be cautious
it was harder for a colleague of mine who was partially sighted. He relied more on sound than vision as by the time he saw a vehicle, it was too late to cross safely
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