Back up sound.

[RickMachE]

I’ve had my MME for about a year, and it wasn’t until a couple of months back I heard that beeping sound, so I stopped thinking it was another car backing up… it is not loud, its a safety issue IMO since herd in FL we have “great” drivers. The reason I didn’t notice it before, I have my music on before I put my car in reverse. This actually reminds me of a post about someone who removed the Pony logos and everything that said the MME was a Mustang because he was embarrassed to be driving a MME. Things like this lets me know that when people complain about stuff like that, they will always have something to complain about.

Turn the volume up and you won’t hear the beeping.

You might consider not turning on your music until you start driving forward. When backing up, you don't need distractions. You should be able to hear what's going on.

It's a ridiculous law, can anyone tell me that a '24 model year 4 cylinder car going 5 mph in reverse is louder then my MME?

I seriously doubt it, so why don't ICE vehicles have to complie?

It's a law written with FUD in mind instead of data.

Comply.

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[SonicBlue]

Comply.

Were you correcting his spelling or issuing an edict?

(The correct answer is “yes.” )

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

The reason that back up alert is an annoying regular beep is because everyone knows exactly what it means. Other sounds can lead to confusion, “Is that George Jetson? Maybe someone badly humming ‘Shake It Off?’ Perhaps it’s a poorly tuned mandolin playing Bohemian Rhapsody? Or is it a a street Zamboni?” Advocacy groups for the visually impaired would prefer there be exactly one back up sound so they there’s no doubt as to what is happening .

George Jetson is three btw, apparently he was born in 2022. Any of you have an orange headed three year old?

 

[MarkP213]

The reason that back up alert is an annoying regular beep is because everyone knows exactly what it means. Other sounds can lead to confusion, “Is that George Jetson? Maybe someone badly humming ‘Shake It Off? Maybe a poorly tuned mandolin version of Bohemian Rhapsody? Or is it a a street Zamboni?” Advocacy groups for the visually impaired would prefer there be exactly one back up sound so they there’s no doubt as to what is happening .

George Jetson is three btw, apparently he was born in 2022. Any of you have an orange headed three year old?

I only know of one orange headed three year old. But we not supposed to talk politics on this forum. ?

 

[ncsu1]

At least it's not as loud as some of the Hyundai's hybrids/EVs

 

[Mach1E]

The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act was the result of years of lobbying by vision impaired advocacy groups without any real science to back it up. The studies on the efficacy of adding additional noise pollution for pedestrian safety are dubious at best.

This was a case of “ounce of cure” overriding “pain in the ass” and common sense.

The most beneficial use of backup sounds is the feeling of moral virtue it lends to its defenders.

Do you honestly not believe that sound in this case adds to safety?

It’s not just beneficial to blind people. It’s people in parking lots, children and yes, even pets.

A silent 5,000 lb vehicle in motion is more dangerous than one you can hear. Why do you think they have those beeping sounds on heavy machinery and large trucks for the last few decades? Do we need a study for something that should be common sense?

 

[Pioneer898]

Do you honestly not believe that sound in this case adds to safety?

It’s not just beneficial to blind people. It’s people in parking lots, children and yes, even pets.

A silent 5,000 lb vehicle in motion is more dangerous than one you can hear. Why do you think they have those beeping sounds on heavy machinery and large trucks for the last few decades? Do we need a study for something that should be common sense?

I don't doubt it adds to safety, I think for me the question is how much? My instinct say that the number of incidents that were avoided specifically because of a backup sound on a passenger vehicle would be almost negligible. It feels like it's the responsibility of the driver not to hit people, not the responsibility of the passenger to jump out of the way. That's why this is a thing for large trucks and heavy machinery, because those vehicles typically have poorer visibility and as such makes it substantially more difficult for the driver to ensure there are no pedestrians in danger. A small passenger vehicle (with a backup camera and the 360 camera) makes that responsibility for drivers easy.

So again, safety is important, but I just would be surprised if this is increasing safety by any significant margin. But I could be wrong, and I'll have to do some digging to know for sure.

 

[zvez]

"almost negligibile" doing some heavy lifting here. So statistically speaking how many injuries or deaths from a backing up EV are acceptable. This is just first world complaining.

Not surprisingly couldn't find any data on EV specific backup mortality and injury, but overall this is NOT a rare occurrence.
" Backing accidents are the cause of 500 deaths and 15,000 injuries per year. A study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found over 90% of backing accidents are attributed to either the driver being unaware of obstacles or using improper backing techniques. "

https://adminfinance.okstate.edu/rpm/site-documents/vehicle-backing-safety-fact-sheet-1.2.pdf

 

[Pioneer898]

"almost negligibile" doing some heavy lifting here. So statistically speaking how many injuries or deaths from a backing up EV are acceptable. This is just first world complaining.

It certainly is. I don't know the answer, but everything we do has an acceptable number of deaths. I don't presume to be the one who says what that number is, but if it's always zero, we wouldn't have cars in the first place. I agree this is a first world problem, but personal preference is valued over safety in much more flagrant ways. (think huge lifted trucks that are perfectly street legal but incredibly dangerous)

I'm not advocating one way or another, but just saying that the argument is not as cut and dry as some might think.

 

[Ravensfan1996]

I didn’t like at first, then especially in grocery parking lots, the sound really gets the attention of people around and they get out of the way. It’s nice. Haha

 

[leehinde]

How many of you guys can’t stand the annoying backup sound generated by the MME? I wish ford would provide an alternative sound or five to choose from. Truly this is the thing I absolutely hate about my car.

I feel/felt the same thing but someone here (maybe later on this thread, I haven't finished reading) pointed out that it's recommended by accessibility groups because it's an understood sound. Which makes sense.

 

[zvez]

It's a ridiculous law, can anyone tell me that a '24 model year 4 cylinder car going 5 mph in reverse is louder then my MME?

I seriously doubt it, so why don't ICE vehicles have to complie?

It's a law written with FUD in mind instead of data.

I'll take that bet, a f cyl econobox with transmission sounds and such certainly makes more noise backing up.

BTW, the sound requirement has nothing to with specifically backing up, at least in the US, it's a requirement that when an EV is travelling less than a certain mph forward or back (I think it's 18 or 19 mph) it has to make some sort of sound. That's why going forward up to that speed it emits an artificial sound.

 

[Pioneer898]

"almost negligibile" doing some heavy lifting here. So statistically speaking how many injuries or deaths from a backing up EV are acceptable. This is just first world complaining.

Not surprisingly couldn't find any data on EV specific backup mortality and injury, but overall this is NOT a rare occurrence.
" Backing accidents are the cause of 500 deaths and 15,000 injuries per year. A study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found over 90% of backing accidents are attributed to either the driver being unaware of obstacles or using improper backing techniques. "

https://adminfinance.okstate.edu/rpm/site-documents/vehicle-backing-safety-fact-sheet-1.2.pdf

https://isoes.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/isoes.2021_015.pdf
This study admits that there is insufficient data to come to a clear conclusion, but suggests that backup alarms aren't effective at preventing such incidents. It specifically calls out backup cameras and other safety measures, but doesn't actually cite any data to back that claim either. I think it's also worth noting that the safety fact sheet doesn't call out audible alarms at all either.

This study does mention "habituation" to backup alarm sounds possibly contributing to their ineffectiveness, which makes me thing that the weird sounds described in this thread are specifically chosen to address that. So it's definitely possible that louder-than-expected UFO backup alarms are much more effective than traditional ones, or even other backing safety measures.

I think it would be cool if it put on the flashers for you or some other light signal when you go are moving backwards (not just in reverse). In a lot of vehicles you can't really trust the white lights on the rear to be an indicator that someone is actually reversing. I swear some people just sit there in reverse it seems like

ETA: The real solution that nobody is talking about is putting a card in the spokes.

 

[SonicBlue]

Do you honestly not believe that sound in this case adds to safety?

It’s not just beneficial to blind people. It’s people in parking lots, children and yes, even pets.

A silent 5,000 lb vehicle in motion is more dangerous than one you can hear. Why do you think they have those beeping sounds on heavy machinery and large trucks for the last few decades? Do we need a study for something that should be common sense?

First, an EV in motion isn’t “silent.” It already makes noise. The question is how much.

Second, yeah I do think it would be a good idea to have some peer-reviewed research into just how beneficial these noise-makers are. Because I don’t think it is “common sense” that this added noise pollution is meaningfully increasing safety.

 

[SonicBlue]

"almost negligibile" doing some heavy lifting here. So statistically speaking how many injuries or deaths from a backing up EV are acceptable. This is just first world complaining.

Not surprisingly couldn't find any data on EV specific backup mortality and injury, but overall this is NOT a rare occurrence.
" Backing accidents are the cause of 500 deaths and 15,000 injuries per year. A study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found over 90% of backing accidents are attributed to either the driver being unaware of obstacles or using improper backing techniques. "

https://adminfinance.okstate.edu/rpm/site-documents/vehicle-backing-safety-fact-sheet-1.2.pdf

You realize this undercuts your argument, right? The ICE vehicles emit engine noise and yet deaths still occur.

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