IT'S an unusual debate for the car industry in Japan - one reflecting the increasing popularity of electric and hybrid cars.
The government in Tokyo is considering how to regulate the 'voice' of these often ultra-quiet vehicles, in the interests of safety. Public feedback has included using the sounds of tyres running along the ground, a digitised voice-warning or even clip-clopping hooves.
The transport ministry has begun work on a guideline on artificial sounds to be made by hybrid and electric cars, which run so quietly that pedestrians often fail to notice their approach.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said the guideline, which it plans to complete this month, will pave the way for hybrid vehicles (HVs) making artificial sounds to run safely on the streets. But experts say the task will not be easy.
HVs make almost no sound when they are started and when driven slowly because they use an electric motor - not an engine - in these situations.
The National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory said Toyota's Prius emits 30 decibels, which is as quiet as a whisper, when started. Experts are concerned that visually-impaired people may fail to notice the vehicles.
The ministry set up a committee on the problem, comprising university professors and other experts, last July. The committee drew up a basic policy stipulating that HVs should make noises like ordinary cars when they are running.
The ministry's guideline is expected to stipulate that HVs automatically make a sound as loud as those that ordinary cars make when they are running or reversing at speeds of up to 20kmh.
However, the ministry is not set to make it obligatory for carmakers to install sound-making devices soon, and it is expected to postpone measures for HVs already sold.
So the roads could fill with both HVs that make sounds and those that do not - a potentially lethal confusion.
Source : http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20100118-192519.html
The government in Tokyo is considering how to regulate the 'voice' of these often ultra-quiet vehicles, in the interests of safety. Public feedback has included using the sounds of tyres running along the ground, a digitised voice-warning or even clip-clopping hooves.
The transport ministry has begun work on a guideline on artificial sounds to be made by hybrid and electric cars, which run so quietly that pedestrians often fail to notice their approach.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry said the guideline, which it plans to complete this month, will pave the way for hybrid vehicles (HVs) making artificial sounds to run safely on the streets. But experts say the task will not be easy.
HVs make almost no sound when they are started and when driven slowly because they use an electric motor - not an engine - in these situations.
The National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory said Toyota's Prius emits 30 decibels, which is as quiet as a whisper, when started. Experts are concerned that visually-impaired people may fail to notice the vehicles.
The ministry set up a committee on the problem, comprising university professors and other experts, last July. The committee drew up a basic policy stipulating that HVs should make noises like ordinary cars when they are running.
The ministry's guideline is expected to stipulate that HVs automatically make a sound as loud as those that ordinary cars make when they are running or reversing at speeds of up to 20kmh.
However, the ministry is not set to make it obligatory for carmakers to install sound-making devices soon, and it is expected to postpone measures for HVs already sold.
So the roads could fill with both HVs that make sounds and those that do not - a potentially lethal confusion.
Source : http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20100118-192519.html
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