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Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

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Re: Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

#91

Post by kqr »

rtpg wrote: post #74
darkteflon wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see this take about Japan all the time and do not understand it. No offence, but have you spent any time in Japan? Rural areas might be quiet for sheer low population density, but the cities are disgusting. PM2.5 levels in Tokyo yesterday were like 6x WHO limits and absolutely no one on the local news was talking about it. Every morning I see pregnant and new mothers with infants or small children squeezing between…

> PM2.5 levels in Tokyo yesterday were like 6x WHO limits and absolutely no one on the local news was talking about it What are you talking about? Localities sent a smog alert, made announcements on the speaker, and there was a whole thing. It was a particularly hot day as well. I don’t have that many reference points to be fair, but almost every time I’ve checked general air quality (at least according to the first…

Air quality also wildly varies between streets, so it's hard to compare blindly across cities. Walking for just a minute down a side street can massively improve air quality compared to the main street.

Re: Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

#92

Post by HPsquared »

DrBazza wrote: post #53
lynx23 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was very excited about EVs reducing the noise level in my city. Until I realized that most of the noise of a modern car actually comes from the tires. There sin't much difference between a modern non-EV car and an EV, sadly.

If you're in the UK, most of the noise comes from "the kids" buying cheap compact cars (Fiat 500s seem popular) and modifying the exhaust to sound like a very, very poor man's Ferrari, or on Sundays, motorbikes.

That, and I've noticed that most diesel exhaust smell seems to come from a small number of vehicles: old VW TDIs, illegally modified taxis, and old buses.

Re: Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

#93

Post by Gwypaas »

robertlagrant wrote: post #69
david-gpu wrote: post #17

I live in a high-rise condo next to a six-lane stroad that was even showcased on this YouTube channel and the 24/7 traffic noise is annoying, particularly when you want to go for a walk and can't even hold a conversation. This didn't happen in the places where I lived back in Europe because zoning laws were different. Instead of the sprawl of freehold single family homes separate from a dense urban core, these much q…

> This means people can live within walking distance to where they work and where they shop This is less common than you think. There are 8500 or so malls in Europe[0]. I happen to live near an (expensive) shop, which I use because I like walking places, but I also know I have a tech salary that lets me buy a place that's in walking distance of a shop, and afford to shop in it regularly. Also, plenty of people don't…

Why would I ever go to mall? It is an awful experience. At most, when it would be too cumbersome to bring on public transport, I rent a car.

Re: Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

#95

Post by s_dev »

nonethewiser wrote: post #54
s_dev wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so weird that the 'noise' of petrol cars is considered a safety feature. I've heard from the older generation "Yeah but EVs don't make noise which makes them extremely dangerous. Could easily kill a child or old woman who steps out on to a road because they don't hear a car coming". It must be the same group of people with their anecdotes about seatbelts and airbags making cars more dangerous.

But what is your rebuttal to that? Seems obvious that it's safer if you can hear it than if you cant.

The solution is obvious -- look both ways before crossing. Don't depend on sound only to ensure your survival crossing a road.

Re: Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

#96

Post by prmoustache »

SargeDebian wrote: post #55
s_dev wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so weird that the 'noise' of petrol cars is considered a safety feature. I've heard from the older generation "Yeah but EVs don't make noise which makes them extremely dangerous. Could easily kill a child or old woman who steps out on to a road because they don't hear a car coming". It must be the same group of people with their anecdotes about seatbelts and airbags making cars more dangerous.

A while ago someone was driving my hybrid car towards me in electric mode. They passed an older lady going in the same direction driving ~10KM/h (6MPH), until the elderly lady made an abrupt 90 degree right turn and walked into the rear door. I guess there is something to say for modern EVs making some kind of artificial zooming noise, though I'm not sure it would have helped this lady as the car was already making n…

Not so sure. It might help children but old people are just old and deaf. When they stop in the middle of the path and people ask them politely if they can leave room at normal voice level they typically do not hear it and you end up shooting at them so they can notice you are here trying to pass and move aside.

Re: Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

#97

Post by kqr »

pdimitar wrote: post #90
noduerme wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and wonder what the cost of all of this will be Likely the same extended lifespan that's been prevalent in Japan over the past century of smoking, diesel and construction (along with the occasional nuclear catastrophe). Humans are apparently more ruggedized than they look on paper.

You are just one sentence away from saying "human quality of life doesn't matter, we must think of the economy". Shortness of breath is something doctors report as a more and more common symptom of city dwellers. Not reported on the news because nobody -- apparently you included -- cares, but I've been to doctors lately, and they complained that the lung and heart doctors are overbooked lately while the others have a…

This could also be because people don't go out as much - perhaps for fear of pollution.

Generally, it takes a lot of pollution to counter the positive health effects of active commuting. It was a while since I did the research, but someone estimated that you need to cycle for more than sixteen hours per day for the pollution to outweigh the cardio benefits in the 90th percentile of cities ordered by pollution. There was no city for which any mount of cycling would have made you worse off.

Granted, walking is probably slightly lower in intensity, but still.

Re: Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

#98

Post by spacehunt »

Living in Hong Kong, I'll tell you what's loud: the constant remodelling, both in apartment and office buildings. Try working in an office where someone is trying to drill 50 holes into a concrete wall next door.

In comparison, all other noises can be easily ignored.

Re: Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

#99

Post by Barrin92 »

darkteflon wrote: post #44
david-gpu wrote: post #17

I live in a high-rise condo next to a six-lane stroad that was even showcased on this YouTube channel and the 24/7 traffic noise is annoying, particularly when you want to go for a walk and can't even hold a conversation. This didn't happen in the places where I lived back in Europe because zoning laws were different. Instead of the sprawl of freehold single family homes separate from a dense urban core, these much q…

I see this take about Japan all the time and do not understand it. No offence, but have you spent any time in Japan? Rural areas might be quiet for sheer low population density, but the cities are disgusting. PM2.5 levels in Tokyo yesterday were like 6x WHO limits and absolutely no one on the local news was talking about it. Every morning I see pregnant and new mothers with infants or small children squeezing between…

>No offence, but have you spent any time in Japan?

As someone who moved to Japan it's always funny. I think people literally get their impression from Japan solely from neo-Tokyo sci-fi from the 80s. The country has taken some of the worst cues from the US.

Many cities like Tokyo are 75% suburban, single home, it's in fact the largest suburban region on the planet. The number of cars in the country is much higher than in the rest of Asia and many cities are extraordinarily sprawlish. From the air Tokyo literally just looks like a sort of denser LA (https://i.redd.it/mghcpc5xvt761.jpg)

If people are looking inspiration in Asia, Singapore is a much better place to look at, it deliberately designed around green spaces and avoidance of cars.

Re: Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud (2021) [video]

#100

Post by layer8 »

s_dev wrote: post #11
enlyth wrote: post #5

The author in the video kind of dismisses EVs saying that at speed there's not much of a difference, but one of the things I definitely noticed when visiting Bergen was how damn quiet the city was because almost everyone was driving EVs. It had a noticeably positive effect on me.

It's so weird that the 'noise' of petrol cars is considered a safety feature. I've heard from the older generation "Yeah but EVs don't make noise which makes them extremely dangerous. Could easily kill a child or old woman who steps out on to a road because they don't hear a car coming". It must be the same group of people with their anecdotes about seatbelts and airbags making cars more dangerous.

As a bicyclist, the noise cars make is clearly a safety feature for me. The noise could likely be less and still serve that function adequately, but “silent” cars would be a nightmare.
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