Posts Tagged ‘cars’

Don’t don’t honk

In what some might some might take as an admission of defeat (or at least a concession to reality), the New York City Department of Transportation has begun removing each and every “Don’t Honk” road sign from the city streets.  According to the New York Times, “the move is part of an effort to declutter the streets of often ignored signs.”   The signs also give the impression that unneeded honks were only a violation where the signage was installed; with or without a sign, unnecessary honking remains illegal throughout the city with fines starting at $350.

Don't Honk Sign

Enforcement is another matter; last year the NYPD issued only 206 summonses.  Most New Yorkers could count that many car horns in a day, if they were paying attention to them—of course, for most New Yorkers, ignoring the din of constant honking is a quickly learned survival skill.

Putting the rev back in your engine

A great deal of engineering effort has gone into quieting the automobile over the past century.  In most major cities, transportation noise is a huge contributor to environmental noise both outdoors and in (who doesn’t live near a road?)  Vehicle acoustics is a primary focus of many current applied acoustics research programs, with the enthusiastic support of the auto industry.

Even so, some would argue that these great successes in reducing vehicle noise have come at the expense of exhilaration; gunning your engine at a stop light just doesn’t give the thrill that it did in the days of the big block V8.

SoundRacer in actionFor those of us that would occasionally like to hear what we’re driving (which yes, sometimes includes even noise-averse acousticians), a Swedish company has developed the SoundRacer.  This gizmo fits into your cigarette lighter socket, and using the socket voltage to sense engine RPM, broadcasts real-time sports car engine sound through your car stereo.  Even if your “sports car” happens to be less than sporting!