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The rise of the Electric Vehicle – Cyclists new danger?

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  • October 16, 2018 at 11:47 am #29051
    AfterPeak

    Yes it sounds like a Daily Mail headline although it should probably be the other way around if it was a DM article but there is a hidden or should I say silent issue here. 

     

    Personally I am very happy with the reduction of polluting cars and motorbikes with the popularity of electric vehicles but I really think they should be fitted, as standard, with some sort of noise to alert people, cyclists and other road users they are there. Too many times now I have been scared the hell out of when a electric bike or car comes whizzing passed without a warning. It is bad enough when you can hear a car or bike revving in the distance getting closer but at least you know it is about to happen and can adjust you position/style.

    Anyway just a thought I think is worth talking about before someone gets injured. Not a fan of noise pollution either really but I am sure there could be a balance.  

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  • October 18, 2018 at 11:46 am #929295
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    OldRidgeback
    JMcL_Ireland wrote:
    brooksby wrote:
    Personally, I think the Cylon swoosh-swoosh noise would be good  yes

    What about a recording of a 6 year old pretending to drive a race car? “Nrrrrrrrrr….. nyeow…..” Should be compulsory to be fitted to any forthcoming electric Audis as the drivers of those frequently don’t seem to have advanced beyond that age anyway

     

    I’d quite like a Tardis noise. 

    As long as the sound is within set db limits, it might be an option for drivers to choose sounds for their cars. Remember when people used to buy novelty ring tones for their mobiles?

    October 18, 2018 at 11:45 am #929293
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    Jetmans Dad

    I have always said that in

    I have always said that in the event of having an electric car, I want the option of making it sound like it is running a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine (as used in the Spitfire, Lancaster and Mustang in WWII). Possibly the greatest engine noise ever created. 

    October 18, 2018 at 11:43 am #929291
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    hawkinspeter
    bamboo wrote:
    Can we address the real issue – those pesky pedestrians, they are really whisper quiet. They are a real danger to cyclists – coming from nowhere suddenly stepping into the road. I find it hard to believe that there is no law yet introducing mandatory noise devices for them – I am thinking a tuba for each one with mandatory playing of such as soon as another road participant approaches. I think I’ll set up a petition!

    As not everyone is proficient with a tuba, maybe just employ some people to follow pedestrians around:

    October 18, 2018 at 11:36 am #929289
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    JMcL_Ireland
    brooksby wrote:
    Personally, I think the Cylon swoosh-swoosh noise would be good  yes

    What about a recording of a 6 year old pretending to drive a race car? “Nrrrrrrrrr….. nyeow…..” Should be compulsory to be fitted to any forthcoming electric Audis as the drivers of those frequently don’t seem to have advanced beyond that age anyway

    October 18, 2018 at 8:44 am #929287
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    AfterPeak
    OldRidgeback wrote:
    There is a report from Japan highlighting the high numbers of incidents involving pedestrians and hybrid cars (operating at low speeds in EV mode) or electric cars. The elderly or partially sighted are particuarly at risk.

    There is a move for electric cars to be fitted with noise generators as standard within the EU. Yes people will have to be more aware because they are quieter. And drivers of EVs will have to be more aware that vulnerable road users may not hear them.

    In general EVs are a great thing. But there are drawbacks and the low noise does have a safety shortcoming. Don’t get me started on lithium mining for the batteries.

     

    I think you should run for Mayor.

    October 17, 2018 at 8:24 pm #929285
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    Anonymous
    hirsute wrote:
    BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
    as well as where all the electricty is going to come from.

    Wind

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45873785

    We have massive amounts of wind and tidal power in the UK that could be utilised with the political will.

    COULD be used. Labour and Cons have rejected tidal, in fact gordon brown went to great lengths to dismiss a tidal barage on the Severn. It’s going to cost taxpayers a shit ton of money so that EV drivers can have cheap electricity and make yet more profit for foreign investment which won’t be taxed properly. it also won’t be anywhere close to covering the energy requirement for 30 years or more. Meanwhile cycle infra protagonists will still be pissing in the wind for a few million quid here and there.

    October 17, 2018 at 6:13 pm #929283
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    CXR94Di2

    Remember ‘Look, Listen’

    Remember ‘Look, Listen’

    and

     

    Look right, look left and look right again

     

    Teach your kids and practice what you teach them.  It will save alot of lives .

    October 17, 2018 at 5:22 pm #929281
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    OldRidgeback

    There is a report from Japan

    There is a report from Japan highlighting the high numbers of incidents involving pedestrians and hybrid cars (operating at low speeds in EV mode) or electric cars. The elderly or partially sighted are particuarly at risk.

    There is a move for electric cars to be fitted with noise generators as standard within the EU. Yes people will have to be more aware because they are quieter. And drivers of EVs will have to be more aware that vulnerable road users may not hear them.

    In general EVs are a great thing. But there are drawbacks and the low noise does have a safety shortcoming. Don’t get me started on lithium mining for the batteries.

    October 17, 2018 at 4:00 pm #929279
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    AfterPeak
    bamboo wrote:
    Can we address the real issue – those pesky pedestrians, they are really whisper quiet. They are a real danger to cyclists – coming from nowhere suddenly stepping into the road. I find it hard to believe that there is no law yet introducing mandatory noise devices for them – I am thinking a tuba for each one with mandatory playing of such as soon as another road participant approaches. I think I’ll set up a petition!

     

     

    I can spot a bozo chatting on their phone looking the wrong way and stepping out into the road a mile away. I cannot hear an electric car approching me from behind. I get what people are saying about tyre road nice being more important. Maybe I should say you get less warning with EV compared to normal cars.

    October 17, 2018 at 11:51 am #929277
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    bamboo

    Can we address the real issue

    Can we address the real issue – those pesky pedestrians, they are really whisper quiet. They are a real danger to cyclists – coming from nowhere suddenly stepping into the road. I find it hard to believe that there is no law yet introducing mandatory noise devices for them – I am thinking a tuba for each one with mandatory playing of such as soon as another road participant approaches. I think I’ll set up a petition!

     

    October 17, 2018 at 10:00 am #929275
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    FluffyKittenofTindalos
    BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
    Electric cars are not in themselves that much better than an ICE vehicle, you can hear the noise from the tyres even at low speed.

    The big problem with EVs is that they will take more space with charging points on streets and will still clog up the roads and it will only get worse. On street pollution may well go down but that won’t change the killing and maiming, nor will it help with health of those only ever getting about without any effort.

    EVs are a toxic non solution to our mobility problems that will cost massively more than people are being told as well as where all the electricty is going to come from.

    https://www.driving.co.uk/news/electric-cars-will-clog-roads-next-three-decades-says-study/

     

    Half-agree.  They are far from a complete solution, but that on-street pollution is a huge issue – it actually enrages me, given the extremely polluted roads I have to travel regularly – these guys are behaving as if the streets belong to them, getting in my way, bullying me, _and_ they are poisoning me as they do so!

     

    I still haven’t forgiven them for the huge quantity of lead I breathed in as a child. 

     

    And the argument that lead in petrol may have contributed to the spike in violent crime across the developed world during the ’90s is not as wild as it sounds…if in my dotage I go on a violent anti-car rampage you can blame all that lead in my brain and bones (apparently the stuff that accumulated in your bones gets released as your age and screws with your brain all over again!).

     

    If electric cars solve that one problem of local pollution that will be a big improvement.   Admittedly I’m yet to be convinced they will ever become the norm, but they seem a much more viable tech than those self-driving cars.

     

    The other problems of motoriing require other solutions.

    October 17, 2018 at 9:38 am #929273
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    John Smith

    brooksby wrote:

    brooksby wrote:

    ChrisB200SX wrote:
    I drive an electric car now. There is no reason it should have to make artificial noise in the same way I don’t have to make artificial noise on my bike or when I’m running, or even walking.

    Except that, as is often pointed out on this very site, its not comparable: green power or not, an electric car is two tonnes of metal and plastic and moves (usually) a lot faster than a bike or a pedestrian and is a greater risk.

    Personally, I think the Cylon swoosh-swoosh noise would be good  yes


    And they are a lot bigger and make much more road noise. I have never had any issues not seeing cars when riding a motorbike, with a helmet on and ear plugs in, you just need to make sure you do proper checks and be aware of what is around you.

    We can’t really go using this excuse and then expect drivers to not want to use it. Years of telling drivers to look for cyclists then complaining about cars being silent would be hypocritical. Not to mention the fact that the majority of noise on most mid-range (i.e. not anything fast and loud or cheap with a rough engine and poor sound deadening) cars at road speed is tyre noise, not the engine, at least from the front.

    October 17, 2018 at 9:35 am #929271
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    Beatnik69

    Many modern petrol engines
    Many modern petrol engines are very quiet. I’ve been surprised a few times, when glancing over my shoulder, to see a car behind me. The same goes for the new electric Glider buses that have been recently introduced in Belfast. There have been times where I’ve thought a bus has been about to overtake me only to see a Range Rover go past. The tyre noise from them is astounding.

    October 17, 2018 at 9:10 am #929269
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    andyp

    Surely a total non-issue as

    Surely a total non-issue as long as you use your eyes before changing lane, which you should be doing already, right? If someone is going to deliberately drive into you, they’re going to do it whether they’re quiet or loud about it…

     

    October 17, 2018 at 7:54 am #929267
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    brooksby
    ChrisB200SX wrote:
    I drive an electric car now. There is no reason it should have to make artificial noise in the same way I don’t have to make artificial noise on my bike or when I’m running, or even walking.

    Except that, as is often pointed out on this very site, its not comparable: green power or not, an electric car is two tonnes of metal and plastic and moves (usually) a lot faster than a bike or a pedestrian and is a greater risk.

    Personally, I think the Cylon swoosh-swoosh noise would be good  yes

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