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Engine noise from traffic is so normalised that it can be hard to picture how it can not exist. I only got the feeling of how much calmer it felt without engin

by piva00 19d ago

Engine noise from traffic is so normalised that it can be hard to picture how it can not exist. I only got the feeling of how much calmer it felt without engines revving all around after visiting Guilin, China a couple of years ago. Most cars, trucks, scooters were electric and the only noise I'd hear were tyres rolling, the odd ICE vehicle sounded like a banshee among the rest.

RajT88 19d ago
For some reason Salzburg had so little car traffic during the day it was eerily silent. People using their inside voices outside to talk to each other. We visited on a weekday, so that may have been why.
redeeman 19d ago
most traffic noise is not the engine, its tires and other such noises. modern cars, including combustion ones, make very very little sound edit: for cars only, motorcycles etc make more
- bryanlarsen 19d ago
  At highway speed, yes. But it's mostly cities where the complaints are. And at sane city speeds engine noise predominates. And at highway speed the exceptions like Harley's and glass-packs and high rpm super cars are the problem. It's not the steady whoosh of tire noise that wakes you up in the middle of the night.
- noir_lord 19d ago
  > motorcycles etc make more Often by design (either the manufacturer or the rider swapping to a louder exhaust) there isn't any reason they can't be quieter and many of them are off the forecourt. The common argument you run into why people make them loud is its for "safety" but that's always felt like a thin excuse to justify "hey, look at me!" loud exhausts. Yes, I've owned motorcycles, I commuted using one to work for years, no it been "quiet" didn't make it any less safe. I do occasionally think about getting another one but the animus simply isn't there any more, I think if I needed transport these days I'd just get a car, for commuting a motorcycle was brilliant (it's legal in the UK to lane split which in heavy rush hour traffic is a real time saver) and they are cheaper to run but in every other way it was strictly worse than a car.
  - FatherOfCurses 19d ago
    I don't have a link but I recall that someone did a study that revealed that there was no safety improvement from loud exhaust and the only way to improve motorcycle safety was increasing visibility with high-visibility vests. In my state there are no helmet laws so I always find it amusing that the "loud pipes save lives" crew are the same who wear no helmets or any other protective gear.
    - noir_lord 19d ago
      > In my state there are no helmet laws. I still find that one wild. When I commuted I wore full high viz motorcycle specific textiles (jacket/trousers), proper boots and a helmet with the highest safety rating (on the SHARP system), as with everything in life you can mitigate the risk (in the case of a motorcyle by riding sensibly and appropriate equipment), you can't remove it and riding a motorcycle is inherently more risky compared to other forms of commuting not least because you are sharing the road with much bigger/much heavier vehicles and you are rare enough that a lot of drivers just don't consider Motorcyles - hell one of our road safety campaigns literally had the slogan "Think! Bike". Never had an off (riding on the road, many times offroad but that's different), had two near misses - one was sand/crap on the road and the front end started to go and the other was a lady pulling straight out into the road from a blind exit (literally a hole in the wall completely blocking her view), I'd gone past that many times on the way home from work and I always slowed down because I'd flagged it as a "yeah, that's just dangerous" so I had time to stop just, she was very apologetic but that wouldn't have helped me much after I'd ploughed into and over her car. I enjoyed riding motorcycles but they were always fundamentally a tool to me to get from A to B, my friends who ride strictly for pleasure and much less safely have way more crashes (in one case one of them wrote off two bikes in six weeks...). I disagree with the way they ride and didn't ride with them even when I had a bike, there are literally track days for that stuff, keep it off the public highway where you risk hurting other people for your "fun".
    - well_ackshually 18d ago
      >the only way to improve motorcycle safety was increasing visibility with high-visibility vests. Mind you, that's also putting the blame on bikers partly. Of course it helps, and not splitting lanes like a dumbass at high speeds makes you safer, but the core threat to bikers is, fundamentally, cars & trucks. Being better drivers and being safer is the best way to protect others.
- piva00 19d ago
  Not at 30-50km/h, the noise from engines revving from traffic lights overpower the constant tyre rolling noise.

by piva00 19d ago

RajT88 19d ago

For some reason Salzburg had so little car traffic during the day it was eerily silent. People using their inside voices outside to talk to each other. We visited on a weekday, so that may have been why.

redeeman 19d ago

most traffic noise is not the engine, its tires and other such noises. modern cars, including combustion ones, make very very little sound edit: for cars only, motorcycles etc make more

bryanlarsen 19d ago
At highway speed, yes. But it's mostly cities where the complaints are. And at sane city speeds engine noise predominates. And at highway speed the exceptions like Harley's and glass-packs and high rpm super cars are the problem. It's not the steady whoosh of tire noise that wakes you up in the middle of the night.
noir_lord 19d ago
> motorcycles etc make more Often by design (either the manufacturer or the rider swapping to a louder exhaust) there isn't any reason they can't be quieter and many of them are off the forecourt. The common argument you run into why people make them loud is its for "safety" but that's always felt like a thin excuse to justify "hey, look at me!" loud exhausts. Yes, I've owned motorcycles, I commuted using one to work for years, no it been "quiet" didn't make it any less safe. I do occasionally think about getting another one but the animus simply isn't there any more, I think if I needed transport these days I'd just get a car, for commuting a motorcycle was brilliant (it's legal in the UK to lane split which in heavy rush hour traffic is a real time saver) and they are cheaper to run but in every other way it was strictly worse than a car.
- FatherOfCurses 19d ago
  I don't have a link but I recall that someone did a study that revealed that there was no safety improvement from loud exhaust and the only way to improve motorcycle safety was increasing visibility with high-visibility vests. In my state there are no helmet laws so I always find it amusing that the "loud pipes save lives" crew are the same who wear no helmets or any other protective gear.
  - noir_lord 19d ago
    > In my state there are no helmet laws. I still find that one wild. When I commuted I wore full high viz motorcycle specific textiles (jacket/trousers), proper boots and a helmet with the highest safety rating (on the SHARP system), as with everything in life you can mitigate the risk (in the case of a motorcyle by riding sensibly and appropriate equipment), you can't remove it and riding a motorcycle is inherently more risky compared to other forms of commuting not least because you are sharing the road with much bigger/much heavier vehicles and you are rare enough that a lot of drivers just don't consider Motorcyles - hell one of our road safety campaigns literally had the slogan "Think! Bike". Never had an off (riding on the road, many times offroad but that's different), had two near misses - one was sand/crap on the road and the front end started to go and the other was a lady pulling straight out into the road from a blind exit (literally a hole in the wall completely blocking her view), I'd gone past that many times on the way home from work and I always slowed down because I'd flagged it as a "yeah, that's just dangerous" so I had time to stop just, she was very apologetic but that wouldn't have helped me much after I'd ploughed into and over her car. I enjoyed riding motorcycles but they were always fundamentally a tool to me to get from A to B, my friends who ride strictly for pleasure and much less safely have way more crashes (in one case one of them wrote off two bikes in six weeks...). I disagree with the way they ride and didn't ride with them even when I had a bike, there are literally track days for that stuff, keep it off the public highway where you risk hurting other people for your "fun".
  - well_ackshually 18d ago
    >the only way to improve motorcycle safety was increasing visibility with high-visibility vests. Mind you, that's also putting the blame on bikers partly. Of course it helps, and not splitting lanes like a dumbass at high speeds makes you safer, but the core threat to bikers is, fundamentally, cars & trucks. Being better drivers and being safer is the best way to protect others.
piva00 19d ago
Not at 30-50km/h, the noise from engines revving from traffic lights overpower the constant tyre rolling noise.