Stop. Look. Listen
By Andrew Farah
Chevrolet Volt Vehicle Chief Engineer
Every kid is taught that crossing a street safely begins with “Stop. Look. Listen.” I’m currently going through this teaching with my two children, ages 4 and 6. Safely crossing a street is a milestone for every child and parent – and something most of us take for granted.
But, what if one of the two senses involved – hearing – was removed? And what if you already lacked the other – sight? Without the familiar sound of traffic, the simple task of crossing a street would be daunting, if not impossible. This is precisely why Chevrolet, GM, and the National Federation of the Blind are cooperating to identify a safe level of sound to alert the blind and other pedestrians to the presence of low-speed, silent-running electric and hybrid vehicles.
Vehicle sound is not noise; it’s an audio cue and information – for everyone. Whether we’re aware of it or not, we constantly rely on our sense of hearing as we go about our daily lives.
The blind must listen for traffic to determine when it is safe to enter an intersection, to safely navigate a parking lot, or to determine whether a driveway is clear. Now, think about the hundreds of thousands of people that head to the streets daily on foot or on a bicycle as a form of transportation, to play, or to exercise. They also rely on their hearing to know when automobiles are present.
A recent report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) demonstrated that the silent operation of low-speed hybrid vehicles is an issue for all pedestrians, not just the blind. In certain situations, electric or hybrid vehicles are twice as likely to be involved in collisions with pedestrians.
Our background in the area of pedestrian alerts dates to our work on the EV1 (a vehicle I’m proud to say I worked on). We are listening to the people who will interact with these vehicles in everyday life. A few weeks ago, several NFB members recently experienced a demonstration of the pedestrian warning alert on a pre-production Chevy Volt at our Milford Proving Grounds. They evaluated the alert from the front, sides, and rear of the car.
We will continue working with the NFB and other groups to gather the critical feedback we need to help create an industry standard so that the sound emitted from EVs is recognizable as the sound of an automobile and detectable by everyone.
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Mr Farah~
A suggestion: Make the Volt so it sounds like the Packard-built V-12 engine in the P-51 Mustang. That’s a sweet sound that will be sure to garner attention.
Can I cast a vote to make the Volt sound like it has a small block in it? Preferably one with headers and really big cam?
My vote: The Jetson’s flying car sound. Seriously.
There probably is a market for interchangeable pedestrian warning alert sounds. A genuine GM Accessory offering?
Gee, that sound is awfully familiar! ;o)
Thank you for bringing some perspective back to this issue…this is an issue worth considering, for both pedestrians and cyclists. And as the other comments point out, there’s a difference between the need for a standardized approach for pedestrian safety, and the ability to acoustically personalize a vehicle for driver enjoyment. I fully expect that this will be only one arena in which electric vehicles are embraced by the SEMA/customization community.
The safety issue thus far has been approached with panic, not reason; currently-proposed regulation would mandate adding a minimum level of *constant* noise to hybrids and plug-ins, defeating one of the significant benefits of the technology. Worse, it shifts the expectation of responsibility from the driver (not to hit someone) to the pedestrian/cyclist (to hear the noise created by the vehicle). Legally and ethically, this is a disservice to pedestrians of all sorts, to say nothing of noise pollution and other issues.
An active, driver-engaged system provides benefit to pedestrians but keeps responsibility on the driver. And by making the vehicle louder only when it needs to be, everyone can continue to enjoy the benefits of relative silence that EVs provide. Only fitting that the company that addressed this issue 15 years ago should lead the discussion again.
This is yet another BAD idea by the leadership at the ‘new GM’. You are all wasting your money on worthless things like this. You should be more focused on your REAL cars like the G8 and the Solstice. But I forgot that your more focused on expensive luxury cars now. You will never be as good as you once were in past years. Maybe when you fail will you learn where you went wrong.
That’s just what GM needs! More cars that sell as “well” as the G8 and Solstice. Do you do a stand-up act in the Catskills too?
As I recall the Pontiac G8 outsold, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, and Buick combined when I looked a few months ago. Saying the G8 didn’t sell well you’d have to address these brands as well.
While I do understand the issue that the vision-impaired may have, those of us who sleep with the windows open were really looking forward to silent cars.
Perhaps it would help if the sound could be projected forwards and backwards, rather than radiated indisciminately or omnidirectionally? And I hope that the overall level will be kept as low as is reasonable for the task.
Of course, 4-place passenger cars have rarely been a big problem on our suburban street. It’s the doofus up the block leadfooting a pickup that has about a 6-liter engine and mufflers that are barely more effective than straight pipes that disturbs my slumber.
I am a GM employee who is totally blind, and I was present for some of the discussions between GM and the NFB. I’d like to suggest another perspective, speaking strictly for myself and not for GM.
To those who say the responsibility for alerting pedestrians should lie solely with the driver of a vehicle, let’s suppose that a feature could be added to your vehicle that would permit it to be invisible during normal operation. Perhaps this might be added so that the presence of miles of traffic would no longer mar the natural view of the countryside. We’ll assume that vehicles have alternative means of detecting one another so that visual detection would be unnecessary. You, as a driver, would have a switch to make the vehicle visible when you happened to notice pedestrians in the area. Would you really want to have full responsibility for insuring that all pedestrians and cyclists would see you including small children who might be hurring along late for school? Would you really want, “Look to the left; look to the right,” to only work when you chose to make it work?
The sounds made by vehicles serve just that same purpose to those of us who cannot see them. We gain information on direction, speed, and whether the vehicle is accelerating or decelerating from the noise thhat an IC engine makes under normal circumstances. I would venture to say that the sighted use these cues more than they realize as well. After all, you can’t look in all directions at once, and I’m sure you aren’t always fully attentive to the visuals around you. Wouldn’t you rather know that both you as the driver and the non-drivers in your area were both able to do their utmost to avoid a serious incident?
Just some thoughts.
Interesting comments about vehicle visibility and responsibility to pedestrians. I think responsibility falls on both really.
Concerning this adaptation for the blind; I like the driver having something less than a full horn blow to warn a pedestrian. Like Andrew Farah says, not like get out of my way, but excuse me. Even now I can use my car to drive up behind people in parking lots without them noticing and yet my horn is very loud and sounds like get out of my way, so in some cases in say when a person is sitting at a green light I just tap it quickly with a knuckle to make quick low sounds.
Still wondering about the Volt, are there going to be any runner/gliders, [Volts without the ICE to lower the cost and weight and have longer range?]
Also, with such a customizable world these days, I’m sure a lot of buyers would like the extra space and options to purchase generators running other fuels, CNG, LPG, diesel, etc. or just have a pure electric car.