I heard a news report the other day that blind people are upset about the hybrid cars...because they are so quiet, blind people can't hear them when they try to cross a street.
I kid you not.
We've all heard digital recordings of (expensive) SLR camera noises be played back on most digital cameras to satisfy people's auditory needs associated with pushing the shoot button.
The OSHA rules requiring vehicles in reverse gear to emit piercing, 100dB warnings at 1-second intervals can easily be expanded, you know.
Even though engine noises technically only correlate to vehicular speed through the transforming filter of a gearbox, I suspect the coming auditory-emission requirements for electric and other noiseless vehicles will artificially correlate directly to speed.
The irony would be that reinforced baseball cards and clothespins could possibly handle this concern, but we have to acquiesce to the fact that government employees will surely be involved. That means their brainstorming list will include a possible requirement for the driver to motorboat with his lips while driving. That will be nixed by the supervisor explaining that it would create too much of a mess on the insides of windshields.
It would be elegant if only such speed-related noises were only blue-tooth emitting, mercifully sparing the rest of us from increased noise pollution, but don't count on it. One has to recognize that blindness often goes hand-in-glove with at least partial deafness, so listen (and look) for the piercing, OSHA mandated version of this solution: 2Hz, ear-splitting, 100dB noises when such vehicles are in forward motion.
HF
You would think that the ego from the driver would stink from miles away.....