As I've pointed out before, the topic of adding noises to very quiet electric cars to make them safer for at-risk populations—including the elderly, the blind, and children—is one that seems to elicit very strong responses.
We have the anti-noise pollution crowd that says electric cars are a step in the right direction and we should encourage that. There's the blind advocacy organizations that say there should be laws forcing electric cars to have noises to alert their constituents because they are at-risk. There's the EV advocates who say that the argument for adding noises to electric cars is one employed by those who want to convince the average person of yet another reason why EVs are bad. And then there's everybody else who don't even know that they're about to be swept up in this debate.
But what if there was a solution that everybody could agree to that would deal with each concern from every group? It's unlikely, but that would be something pretty spectacular. Today, a little known company in Denmark, ECTunes, announced that it has received significant investment from Danish investment firm, Energi Horsens, to accomplish just that.
ECTunes, based in Horsens, Denmark, says that with its directional sound equipment, electric cars can be made to only produce sounds when and where they're needed to alert pedestrians and cyclists of a car's approach. The idea of having these pedestrian alert sounds only activate below certain speeds is not new—Nissan's alert sound only operates at low speeds and in reverse.
But what ECTunes says makes its solution special is that the sounds are only audible in the direction of travel. "With this technology the positive and relaxing advantages of noiseless cars are sustained while the challenges of the silence are being met," said Ulrik Kragh, Chairman of the board in the investment fund Energi Horsens, in a statement. "This is the solution to the potential dangerous situations caused by noiseless cars and we see an even greater need for this solution as more and more electric and hybrid vehicles are entering the roads."
Danish company, ECTunes, says it has a solution to the issue of silent EVs.
Although the sounds in the video may or may not be pleasing to some people, they can be altered to fit whatever requirements come down the pipe. The real innovation is in the directionality of the sound. "Our new technology allows us to customize sound for a specific purpose both in and outside the car," said ECTunes CEO, Jesper Boie Rasmussen. "We can choose a certain sound for right-hand turns or left-hand turns and we can direct the sound and limit it to where it is useful. We are able to adjust sound to the surroundings and the speed of the car."
Image Credit: Some rights reserved by BlaM4c. No, image is clearly not of ECTunes product or of an electric vehicle, but more of a statement on the ridiculousness that some people attain in getting sounds out of their vehicles.
As the owner and driver of a silent electric vehicle, I recognize that blind people are concerned about motor vehicle traffic that makes little noise. This seems to be a big focus, when the real point here is that it's MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC operated by human beings.
The problem is not the vehicle, nor the traffic, it's the operator. We have a center for the blind in this area and the police occasionally run special operations at intersections. They have blind people crossing the road when it's safe, then ticket drivers who fail to yield. No shortage of tickets, but it's piecemeal "education" for drivers.
Drivers have long had the attitude that the road belongs to them, but that's why there's crashes (not accidents, that's shirking responsibility) and situations such as this.
Take responsibility and there is no need for noisy motor vehicles. Stop texting, calling, talking and pay attention to the road, to the other road users and there is no need for noisy motor vehicles. The responsibility for safe operation of a motor vehicle should not be handed off to a noisemaker, an automatic braking system or any other feature that allows a driver to become less vigilant, less skilled.