So, how many people did you nearly run over this week?

[rich1068]

A very 21st century problem. Virtually silent cars.

Since getting my RX 400h I'm averaging 2 or 3 a week. Usually in car parks. Quite often they're distracted but you can tell when it's going to happen as they drift into your path, you wait for the inevitable Oh! and they realise 2+ tons of Japanese prestige is creeping up on them. Just goes to show how reliant we are on our hearing. And ironically this is the sense I'm trying to get my children to make more use of when they're crossing roads. How old fashioned.

[Verbout]

Whatever car you drive, from the quietest Lexus to the noisiest diesel chugger people in car parks will always wander down the road.

I love giving them the beep beep, I’ve had some interesting reactions.  

[Cotswold Pete]

I agree with Garry some people are just not paying attention.

However the problem has been amplified in the 10 years of driving an LS.

I never beep, I just inch towards them, and eventually they get to here the gentle whine of the cam belt, or the crunch of gravel.  I just love the look on their faces.

The one thing is I  think horse riders love a Lexus as at 10-15 mph, you cannot hear the car, and having (in the past) broken in cart and shire horses for working on roads, the quieter the vehicle passing by, the less stress on the horse (and its owner).

[Verbout]

I had a woman jump out of her skin in Morrison’s car park a while ago.

She was stood talking to another woman, I honked my horn long before I got to her and she shouted something too rude to put here.

I wound my window down chuckling to myself and asked her what she said, the reply was incoherent but sounded very crude.

I left, still chuckling to myself, and somewhat hurt.  

[Ben01]

Pshaw. I drop to neutral, kick the pedal, and next somebody has to pick them down from trees and lampposts. You could not believe how high even granma jump, 0.5 meter per every crack in my exhaust multiplied by cylinders number. 🤪

More seriously, I had a very few actions with pedestrians last years, strange. Probably I visit less parking lots and crossing a city not often last years.

[Verbout]

5 hours ago, Verbout said:

I had a woman jump out of her skin in Morrison’s car park a while ago.

She was stood talking to another woman, I honked my horn long before I got to her and she shouted something too rude too put here.

I wound my window down chuckling to myself and asked her what she said, the reply was incoherent but sounded very crude.

I left, still chuckling to myself, and somewhat hurt.  

Nice editing.  Cheers.

[Vince Donald]

I've only made one person jump, had several look at the car with that "why's it not making a sound" question clearly across their face.

 

But as others have said, its not the quiet car that is the problem, its the distracted idiots not paying attention to their surroundings.

 

Vince

[rich1068]

To a point. Over a hundred years of cars on the road, every single one of them making roughly the same amount of noise does play a part.