SegwayChat
Home . Old Gallery

Go Back   SegwayChat > Other Topics > General Discussion

Notices

General Discussion Miscellaneous topics and for general social, non-Segway discussions.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-19-2008, 07:26 PM   #1
SegSailor
Member
SegSailor will become famous soon enough
 
SegSailor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Seg-Ville, USA! (Crozet, VA)
Posts: 111
5 yr Member HT/PT Owner SegwayFest Attendee
Default MINIMUM Noise Requirements In Virginia???

If this topic isn't off, at least here in Virginia our Legislators are.

In addition to being a Segway enthusiast, I am a devoted antique "little British car" fan. And I'm involved with a few car related groups, one of which is a council of many of the Commonwealth's car clubs that closely follows what those, er, folks over in Richmond think ought to be enacted every year as new law. And believe me when I tell you that they can come up with some REAL doozies! About every other year they want to reinvent the wheel and do something that adversly affects the collector car hobby, and we end up going into head butting mode. Thankfully, this is an off year, they are leaving us alone, and I'll have more time to glide. They seem more interested this year in creating yet another version of license tag to add to our selection of over a hundred and eighty http://www.dmv.virginia.gov/webdoc/c...ate_search.asp to choose from (this year one is for the Shag Dance Clubs of Virginia - and no, I can't make this stuff up). They are also working to pass a law prohibiting, well, the display of certain parts of anatomy of livestock from the trailer hitches of trucks. I'll leave that one alone. But they are now also working on a Bill that has been passed by the Transportation Committee in a 15 - 0 vote in favor of creating MINIMUM noise requirements for cars. Their feeling is that the new Prius and other Hybrids are too quiet for blind pedestrians to hear, and that this is creating a safety issue. http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp...?081+ful+SB739 Their solution is to require all motor vehicles registered in Virginia (electric or not) to "emit an omni-directional sound with similar spectral characteristics to that of a modern internal combustion engine... (and) the sound shall vary in a way that is consistent with the sound of motor vehicles with internal combustion engines indicating that the vehicle is idling, maintaining a constant speed, accelerating, or decelerating..." As one of the representatives from a hot rod club on the council said: "But officer, my glass-pack mufflers are only there for pedestrian safety!"

Now, I know that Segways are not required to be registered, and that they fall (for now) under a completely different set of rules (again, for now) but can't you see (following Richmond logic) a requirement coming down the 'pike that would require Segs to sound like mopeds or scooters?!?! Or mimicking the sound of a kid's bicycle with a playing card rattling the front spokes? Maybe Inc. will start selling custom Seg-tone downloads...
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

The University of Seg-Ville
Taking gliding to a higher degree!
SegSailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-19-2008, 07:30 PM   #2
pam
Last of the Early 30
pam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond repute
 
pam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Yelm, WA
Posts: 4,679
5 yr Member HT/PT Owner SegwayFest Attendee
Default

Maybe they'll be able to live with the "horn" equivalent, which some states have required. Or maybe they'll just ignore it completely. We can pray. LOL
Pam
pam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-19-2008, 08:22 PM   #3
wwhopper
Advanced Member
wwhopper is a splendid one to beholdwwhopper is a splendid one to beholdwwhopper is a splendid one to beholdwwhopper is a splendid one to beholdwwhopper is a splendid one to beholdwwhopper is a splendid one to beholdwwhopper is a splendid one to behold
 
wwhopper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Washington, DC, USA.
Posts: 4,894
5 yr Member HT/PT Owner
Default The Seg does make noise

But does someone on a bike or who is walking need to make more noise too? And with all the backround noise, do we need to make more so it can be heard above the din? I myself find that I like the quiet, but then again, I have my sight.

The folks from Segway of Annapolis, spent a night with a blind group, and yes almost all of the got on the Segway and tried it out. Their real issue is having just one more thing they have to deal with that they need to identify as a hazard to their movement. And sound to them is the sense that makes the most sense.

It was interesting to talk to them and hear their concerns. One was concerned that the guide dogs would be disturbed by the seg. And one was sure that theirs was when it growled during dinner, "see my dog was disturbed by the Segway" when really it was growling because one of the people knocked the bread basket off the table and we went to pick it up and the dog felt it belonged to him and did not want it picked up. It was one of those, how do you explain this situations.

And on those things hanging from trailer hitches - one of the SegChatter posted that a number of years ago, as something to hang from the back of a Segway. How very nice!
__________________
Will W Hopper
DCSEG
Washington, DC, U.S.A.
wwhopper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-19-2008, 08:25 PM   #4
GadgetmanKen
Member
GadgetmanKen will become famous soon enough
 
GadgetmanKen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 1,149
5 yr Member SegwayFest Attendee
Default How about this sound

I remember someone posting a video awhile back with the segway sounding like the Jetsons space mobile. I think this is the link. If its got to be audible for the blind why not this sound.
__________________
"Wouldn't it be cool, if?...is like Folgers in my cup"
GadgetmanKen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-19-2008, 08:32 PM   #5
pam
Last of the Early 30
pam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond reputepam has a reputation beyond repute
 
pam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Yelm, WA
Posts: 4,679
5 yr Member HT/PT Owner SegwayFest Attendee
Default

But, you know, the Segway isn't silent. There's a certain amount of gear sound, and the tires make noise, too.
Pam
pam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2008, 11:47 AM   #6
nora k
Member
nora k has a spectacular aura aboutnora k has a spectacular aura aboutnora k has a spectacular aura about
 
nora k's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: home of the superbowl xli champions Colts
Posts: 406
5 yr Member
Default

i have a customer who is legally blind and uses his machine for mobility. he and his daughter travel into the downtown area of their city for running errands. he's a member here and i hope he catches this thread so he can respond.

and i have considered getting a lil bike bell for my machine.

and as pam said, that terrible gear lashing, i mean normal gear noise, can be very very loud.
__________________
it's all about the pentiums.
nora k is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2008, 03:36 PM   #7
bvelke
Member
bvelke will become famous soon enough
 
bvelke's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 200
5 yr Member HT/PT Owner
Default

While gliding down bike paths in the woods, I regularly come upon deer who are shocked to look up and see me standing there watching them. When I'm on foot, they always know about me before I know about them.

When gliding with my 8-year old, I always tell him that he has to go out of his way to avoid sneaking up on pedestrians. Even when passing slowly, I tell him to be off the path (on the grass) so it is clear when they hear "Excuse me" that they don't have to move. The only pedestrians I've ever encountered that objected to Segways on bike paths are those that looked up suddenly and felt that they had to dive out of the way of the oncoming contraption.

That's all testimony to how quiet the Segway is.

Newspaper editorial writers, etc., commonly complain that their peace and tranquility will be ruined by an influx of those noisy machines. Of course, those people just don't know what they are talking about. It is ironic that Segways now face criticism for being TOO quite.
bvelke is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2008, 03:42 PM   #8
quade
Senior Member
quade is a jewel in the roughquade is a jewel in the roughquade is a jewel in the roughquade is a jewel in the rough
 
quade's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Santa Ana, CA
Posts: 1,335
5 yr Member
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bvelke View Post
It is ironic that Segways now face criticism for being TOO quite.
I don't think it actually does, just that some are speculating that at some point it may.
__________________
Harry Potter may fly a broomstick, but I ride a magic lawnmower.
quade is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2008, 07:31 PM   #9
SegSailor
Member
SegSailor will become famous soon enough
 
SegSailor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Seg-Ville, USA! (Crozet, VA)
Posts: 111
5 yr Member HT/PT Owner SegwayFest Attendee
Default

Let me clarify that I was in NO WAY trying to make light of the everyday challenges faced by folks with diminished vision.

SegSurfer (my son) got a little torqued at me thinking that I was insensitive. I'm not. Just the opposite, actually (a fact that he's aware of, but obviously not well enough). He suggested liberal usage of those dreaded little icons, so that I could do a better job of expressing my true intentions. Un huh. Okay, blame him. This year's group of proposed laws just hit me as being kind of, well, strange. Which is REALLY saying something, compared to some of what they have tried to pass through the years. We're adding Shag Dancing tags. I'd rather see Segway or DRAFT tags with the additional $25 annual fee going to DRAFT (my wife's suggestion). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the advancement of the Shag Dance culture that will no doubt ocurr from all of the money that will pour in from the sale of those tags (yes I am poking fun at this), but 180+ styles of tags???

Livestock extremities being banned from vehicles. Okay, this is just a gift to Jay Leno's writers for getting back to work, and I'll just leave that to the pro's prose. And thank you, Will, for the mental image of that specially adorned Segway. As "ss" is fond of saying: "That's just WRONG!"

Sorry, but just for a moment set aside the reason that they want to have the hybrids make noise, and look at the way that they want to attack the problem. It's not the problem that I was making fun of, it's the IRONY of the solution! They don't want a bell, a buzzer, a whistle or any easy modification, they want the really advanced car to have to exactly mimic the sound of the old vehicles that they were trying to replace. Can you imagine them having told Henry Ford that the Model T had to whinny & snort? No, I don't think that a law requiring Segs to make (more) noise would pass the state legislature (I hope), but I can sure see one being proposed by some first term twerp that just wanted to see his or her name in print.

Further irony: As a teenager I once had to stuff the exhaust pipes of my Cherry Bomb mufflered Oldsmobile with steel wool to get it quiet enough to pass inspection.

Pam, your Seg makes NOISE? Time to change the oil!

So much for the icons. Though I like this one:
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

The University of Seg-Ville
Taking gliding to a higher degree!
SegSailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2008, 08:26 PM   #10
quade
Senior Member
quade is a jewel in the roughquade is a jewel in the roughquade is a jewel in the roughquade is a jewel in the rough
 
quade's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Santa Ana, CA
Posts: 1,335
5 yr Member
Default

It occurs to me that I need to find a recording of Mel Blanc as "The Maxwell".
__________________
Harry Potter may fly a broomstick, but I ride a magic lawnmower.
quade is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:01 PM.
Copyright © 2002-2023 SegwayChat.org.
All rights reserved. Not affiliated with Segway Inc.

FreshBlue vBulletin skin by
VayaDesign
Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
SegwayChat Archive