[discreteevent]

I don't think you would make this argument if you had seen up close the damage a car can do to a pedestrian. The problem isn't noise. It's that there are two ton vehicles traveling close to unprotected people. Anything that can mitigate that is a good thing. The argument about noise pollution causing health issues is ridiculous in comparison.

I've heard that some EV drivers turn off the sound because it annoys them. They are potentially setting themselves up for a lifetime of remorse.

[Rufbdbskrufb473]

It's not ridiculous. You need to consider the numbers involved. If one extra person breaks his leg because he didn't look and see the quiet car before crossing the street, that's a fair trade off for reducing the noise pollution for a million people.

[cjbgkagh]

Noise pollution for me is dominated by barking dogs, engine braking, and motorbikes. Making very quite cars less quiet would be comparatively trivial.

[helmholtz]

Cars are 'less noisy' vs all the things that you mentioned simply because they are omnipresent. They wear you down, grind away at your tranquility, but because they're always there, they do so without you even noticing. A peaceful evening walk is made wearisome by the constant trickle of cars intruding into your hearing. Particularly so in the USA, because the cars there (just like everything else) are vast. Car use in city is a blot on humanity. I wish they would all just go away and be saved for the weekend road trip, or moving house, but not for groceries or commuting.

[cjbgkagh]

I have hyperacusis (hypersensitive to noise) and insomnia and I wish all noisy things would go away. I’m one of those people who’s health is severely impacted by noise and I spend a lot of money trying to get away from it. I know that most people don’t have these conditions so they don’t understand how inconsiderate they’re being. It is unrealistic of me to expect others to be more accommodating. If anything people are getting much noisier. I would be exceedingly happy to live in a place where electric cars are the biggest generators of noise pollution. I’ve lived in Europe in walkable cities with little car traffic and it’s worse with drunk revealers singing at the top of their lungs at all hours, parties going until late at night and barking dogs in the early morning. Makes me pine for a HOA controlled gated city suburbia with strict noise controls. Most traffic noise, and especially electric car noise, can be covered up by a noise generator. One place I lived installed an artwork that lit up to different levels depending on the noise pollution, instead of encourage people to be quieter it did the opposite as they competed on who could make the most noise.