Fun News From Japan

DANGER OF NOISELESS CARS

For the first time in automobile history, carmakers who have been trying to make cars quieter, will try to make their cars noisy! If they run too quietly, pedestrians may fail to notice them approaching!

HVs (Hybrid Vehicles) make hardly any sound when they are driven slowly. The Toyota Motor Corp.'s ‘Prius’ makes a sound of about 30 decibels which is as quiet as a whisper. Experts are concerned that visually impaired people may fail to notice the vehicles approach due to this quietness.

The transport ministry is paving the way for HVs to make artificial sounds in order to insure safety on the streets. The ministry has set up a committee comprising of university professors and other experts, to address this problem. However, experts point out that the task will not be easy.

“We want carmakers to individually make efforts to develop their own sounds, and we hope such a situation will automatically narrow down good ones,” a senior ministry official said. “We don't want them to make background music as used in stores or other sounds that could be mistaken for something else other than cars.”

I was thinking if recording someone saying, "VROOM, VROOM" would be a good idea. Any thoughts?

Source: Yomiuri News, 2010-04-10