“Loud pipes save lives” has always been one of my favorite bits of Harley rider wisdom. It turns out there may be something to it. Hybrid cars are twice as likely to be involved in accidents with pedestrians and bicycle riders as regular cars.
Seat belts, crumple zones, and four wheels save lives. Loud pipes are only a local maxima, for those that have forfeited better safety mechanisms.
As someone who spends a lot of time cycling I still can’t figure out under what circumstances a cyclist would be aided by being able to hear a motor vehicle. You really have to, you know, look around. With the wind rushing over your ears and the noise of all the traffic around, how can someone rely on some noise from behind before changing lanes without looking? Anyway, on the road at any significant speed (even bicycle speed) the tire noise is dominant anyway, so a Prius on the road isn’t particularly quiet. I’m passed by them at 25mph all the time. Same sound as any other car without a noisy mechanical defect.
At creeping speed in a parking lot, sure, not silent (tire noise again) but very quiet. Still, aren’t people who are rolling a ton of metal around to be expected to avoid rolling over people, and not expect them to keep looking behind, ready to leap out of the way? As soon as that thing is parked, the driver will become one of those pedestrians.
Loud Pipes save lives – YES!
Loud stereo save pedestrians’ lives – YES! (All pedestrians who walk across any road MUST carry a 200W stereo and turn it to MAX to ensure all cars see them)
Loud honk saves lives – YES!! (All small cars drivers MUST honk loud whenever they go across any intersections to ensure truck drives see them!)
Loud Pipes save lives, what a great logic!!
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