blind

Some automakers are saying that adding a fake engine noise – or some other warning sound – to plug-in vehicles would subtract that "cha-ching" sound from auto dealers cash registers. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and some automakers outside the group say a mandate for ...

It's been a long time coming – remember the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010? – but the proposed rules for the noises that electric or hybrid vehicles have to make at low speeds have been released (get them here in PDF). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ...

US regulators continue to push for a mandate that makers of hybrids and electric-drive vehicles install a pedestrian-warning system on their vehicles to alert blind pedestrians, the Daily Caller reports. The US Secretary of Transportation had previously set a January 2014 deadline for a final ...

Audi knows from sound, and it wants its upcoming plug-in cars to have as distinctive a grumble as possible, just like its fossil-fuel-burning brethren. That's why Audi engineers are working on "new sound signatures" for future e-tron models. You can tell how seriously Audi is taking this by the ...

Recently, Nissan unveiled it's "Approaching Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians" (VSP), a wonky name for the noise added to the upcoming Leaf electric vehicle (EV) at low speeds. Doing so immediately ignited a debate about the aural aesthetics ...

Hybrid and fully electric vehicles have come under fire as of late due to the quietness at which they operate. While this is seemingly a good thing for passengers of the vehicle, there are legitimate concerns that blind people will not be able to detect the rapidly approaching vehicle if it is not ...

Click above for more pictures of the Vibering conceptSafety is obviously of paramount concern with automobiles, whether we are talking about big, bad performance vehicles or fuel-sipping hybrids. We are also concerned not only with the safety of those kept inside the vehicle, but also with ...

You're probably familiar with the recent problems with quiet and silent vehicles and people with less-than-perfect sight. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has been on the case for a while, but there is one angle of their advocacy I didn't know about until Harper's printed the lyrics. The ...

There has been quite a hub-bub about the dangers of hybrids because they are more quiet than internal combustion motivated vehicles. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) naturally takes these matters quite seriously and in the Spring of 2007 approached SAE International about the problem. ...

I mentioned in my driving impression of the Chevrolet Sequel that engineers need to do something about the whooshing sound coming out of the tailpipe. The frequency and texture have absolutely no intrinsic connection to the automobile. Fortunately, you can barely hear it. That's not good news for ...