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NBC News reports that car cabins have gotten so effectively quiet that drivers have difficulty hearing the sirens of emergency vehicles. It begs the question — if a blaring ambulance siren is not penetrating, then what hope does a revving motorcycle have?
Editor Lance wrote an article a couple of years ago about a European study that applied scientific methods to determine how effective loud pipes were at alerting drivers to a motorcyclist’s presence, given the sound-deadening features of today’s cars. That testing found loud pipes weren’t that effective.
Lance raised a challenge to the “loud pipes save lives” advocates: “If loud pipes (facing rearwards on your motorcycle) make you safer, you know what would make you even safer yet? Having your forward-facing horn blowing all the time your motorcycle is running. That would attract more attention and be more effective at making you heard by drivers of cars ahead of you.”
Based on this NBC News report, however, it would seem that even a forward-facing consistently blaring horn would not have the desired impact, either. NBC reports that due to advances in sound deadening technology, modern cars are blocking out the sirens of emergency vehicles to an alarming degree.
How bad can it get? Some first responders in the video say it can literally mean the difference between life and death. NBC News demonstrates just how long it can take before a driver becomes situationally aware when their reporter Tom Costello drives a modern SUV and waits until he can hear a fire truck that is quickly approaching from behind. The sirens of the fire truck only become audible to Costello when the red engine is practically on his rear bumper.
For us motorcyclists, this serves as yet another reminder that we must always act as if we are not seen — and certainly not heard — by the cars that surround us. We must employ all of the best tricks of defensive riding to avoid blind spots, create bubbles of distance between us and other vehicles, keep that front brake covered, and ride with extra caution in congested traffic.
No special horns or loud exhaust pipes will save us from distracted drivers in their increasingly cocooned vehicles. Only unwavering vigilance once the visor closes can do that.
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