Re: Independent Driving.
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 1:46 pm
Someone asked when hearing is useful in driving?
Today I used it exiting the road from my place: To the left I can use nearside mirror to see approaching traffic (angle of the road) but to the right the rock face and curvature of the road (vertical and horizontal) make it a blind bend. Driver's window at least is always down there and engine just ticking over quietly; I can hear tyre noises of approaching cars even if they are not revving (downhill approach). Similar partially-blind junctions occur frequently in rural and semi-rural areas and there were two more on my way into town.
As mentioned previously, approaching motorcycles can often be spotted sooner by their engine noise than their profile. This is true not only at the aforementioned junctions but also when they approach from behind during normal driving.
Emergency vehicles can IME frequently be heard before seen, including in urban areas. This gives you extra time to actively search for places to safely move out of their path if necessary.
Audible reversing sensors are becoming more usual on cars, particularly since wide pillars are making the view out of the rear window less useful for spotting where the high kerb is. I expect this trend to continue with all-round sensors (as on some cars now) shouting warnings at us more frequently. Manufacturers could add light signals to these, but since you'll be looking elsewhere than the instrument board ... What they are adding of course is automatic braking to stop the car if the driver doesn't.
Engine tone - yep, but with quieter engines (also smoother so vibration is less), this will become less obvious.
Tyre noise - you can tell a lot of what the tyre is doing/what the road surface is like (ice, oil, gravel, concrete, water etc all make different sounds), long before you get feedback through the steering (especially with modern powered steering).
Other driver's attitudes: The engine noise of other motor vehicles (not just motorbikes) can tell you a lot about how that driver is approaching; you can infer (with all the attendent caveats) a lot about attitude, potential aggression level and what they are likely to do, just from how they change gear as they come up behind (or alongside etc).
Distractions: A hearing driver can be distracted by music, radio, conversation etc. (I prefer not to chat too much whilst driving and switch the radio off in a demanding (i.e. most non-motorway) environment).
Today I used it exiting the road from my place: To the left I can use nearside mirror to see approaching traffic (angle of the road) but to the right the rock face and curvature of the road (vertical and horizontal) make it a blind bend. Driver's window at least is always down there and engine just ticking over quietly; I can hear tyre noises of approaching cars even if they are not revving (downhill approach). Similar partially-blind junctions occur frequently in rural and semi-rural areas and there were two more on my way into town.
As mentioned previously, approaching motorcycles can often be spotted sooner by their engine noise than their profile. This is true not only at the aforementioned junctions but also when they approach from behind during normal driving.
Emergency vehicles can IME frequently be heard before seen, including in urban areas. This gives you extra time to actively search for places to safely move out of their path if necessary.
Audible reversing sensors are becoming more usual on cars, particularly since wide pillars are making the view out of the rear window less useful for spotting where the high kerb is. I expect this trend to continue with all-round sensors (as on some cars now) shouting warnings at us more frequently. Manufacturers could add light signals to these, but since you'll be looking elsewhere than the instrument board ... What they are adding of course is automatic braking to stop the car if the driver doesn't.
Engine tone - yep, but with quieter engines (also smoother so vibration is less), this will become less obvious.
Tyre noise - you can tell a lot of what the tyre is doing/what the road surface is like (ice, oil, gravel, concrete, water etc all make different sounds), long before you get feedback through the steering (especially with modern powered steering).
Other driver's attitudes: The engine noise of other motor vehicles (not just motorbikes) can tell you a lot about how that driver is approaching; you can infer (with all the attendent caveats) a lot about attitude, potential aggression level and what they are likely to do, just from how they change gear as they come up behind (or alongside etc).
Distractions: A hearing driver can be distracted by music, radio, conversation etc. (I prefer not to chat too much whilst driving and switch the radio off in a demanding (i.e. most non-motorway) environment).