Toyota’s Prius is going to have a kind of ’spaceship sound’ to warn the pedestrians
August 27th, 2010 - 7:41 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt
Tokyo, Aug 27 (THAINDIAN NEWS) New regulations in Japan have forced automaker giant, Toyota to install gadgets that can make sounds similar to those is some sci-fi movies to warn pedestrians of the approaching car.
The gadgets will be available in the often silent hybrid cars of Toyota and it has already been introduced in Japan, with plans to roll it on later onto other markets, like the United States and the EU who have also introduced similar regulations.
Toyota’s hybrid car Prius will have the device installed in it. The device will make automatic noise when a pedestrian is close enough. However the sound is only automatically activated when the car is driving at a speed below 15 miles per hour. According to the information on the gadget, the sound of the car will fluctuate with the speed of the car and this is supposed to help the pedestrian guess the proximity of the approaching car.
For now, the device is available as an option at a cost of $148 and it can be installed at the point of purchase.
Other automakers are also making the sound device available in some brands. GM will have the device installed in its hybrid cars and the device will give a chirping noise when the car is moving at a slow speed. Nissan is has the system in its hybrid cars.
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Tags: automakers, gadget, gadgets, giant, gm, hybrid car, hybrid cars, japan, miles per hour, nissan, pedestrian, pedestrians, prius, proximity, sci fi movies, slow speed, spaceship, tokyo, toyota, united states