Honda CR-V Owners Club Forums banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Disconnecting the audible vehicle alert speaker?

35K views 111 replies 28 participants last post by  TheDarkKnight 
#1 ·
For my taste, the audible vehicle alert speaker, required in the US from 2019 for speeds below about 20 mph is annoying.

I asked a local Honda dealer service advisor if it can just be unplugged. He said yes, but it will likely "throw a code" with a dashboard warning light, during vehicle system check on start up.

Anyone have specific knowledge (with respect - not opinions without direct experience) if this would, in fact be true? Of course, one could also put some duct tape over the speaker outlet, visible as a small black cylinder behind lower front grill.
 
#4 ·
I was almost hit by a Hybrid without an alert sound in the WalMart parking lot yesterday. I loaded groceries in our Honda van, stepped back to move the cart so I could close the hatch and woosh a vehicle running on electric passed with in half a yard / metre of me!!! I saw the blue Hybrid badge, but did not recognize the make and model as it speed off. I will be keeping the wind chimes on for my Hybrid CR-V.
 
#9 ·
I have been asked whats that weird noise you car makes never heard it myself
Which kind of proves the "noise" is doing it's job.. alerting. :)

I agree with you that supermarket parking lots (really any parking lot) can be hazardous in a number of ways... and it gets worse as more people seem to be perpetually tethered to the internet with their eyes and ears on their smartphones and oblivious to anything else around them.
 
#6 ·
I have a Volt and CR-V Hybrid. Both have the pedestrian alert that you hear from outside the vehicle. However, the CR-V is much louder. Below 22 I hear it all the time within the vehicle. I don't want to disable it as it will throw a code, but I do want to muffle it where i don't hear it inside the car. When we first took delivery it was throwing the code and the dealer said the connector was just loose, so you can't just un-plug it.
 
#8 ·
Never heard this pedestrian alert inside the cabin.

I know its operating as pedestrians look my way as I approach but personally I’m unaware as to what it actually sounds like.
In my Accord hybrid, it's very noticable when I enter and leave the garage. But oudoors, it is just a low-level hum, kinda like a choir warming up three rooms away. You might notice it at a stop sign with a line, since it turns off when you come to a full stop, and comes on again when you creep forward.
 
#12 ·
Just revisiting this after what happened the other day.

I had pulled up in the school bus load/unload area of the local High School, to drop off my early ballot in the box located just outside its main entrance. There was no school that day, but there was some kind of fundraiser going on in the same area.

As I was walking back to my car, a student ran out of the building, right in front of my car, to give something to two parents working the fundraiser. I started to drive off as she was remaining there to talk to them. But she suddenly, and without looking, turned to run back inside at the exact same moment I pressed the accelerator. I don't know if she noticed the motion, or heard the AVAS, but she got a startled look on her face, looked right at me, and stopped at about the same time I did.

She gave me a sheepish grin, and I let her hurry back inside before starting again. Thankful that I never considered disabling AVAS.

Personally I don’t really understand why I’d want to cancel the alert as the generated noise is pretty benign compared to engine noise.
I know its operating as pedestrians look my way as I approach but personally I’m unaware as to what it actually sounds like.
I can barely hear it in the car when I’m driving...But I did hear it clearly when my wife drove it the other day. I have heard the other noises from Ford and Toyota hybrids, and I found Honda’s to be the least annoying.
 
#13 ·
My family's 2020 EX CRV Hybrid is 3 days old. Tonight at about midnight the pedestrian alarm went off when my husband drove off and I was standing by the car. It was a beautiful noise like a chord, but was soooo loud that I was sure the neighbors would be disturbed. We had no clue what was wrong. He stopped and started the car a few times. Finally he just drove off.

It's surely going to cause anxiety for CRV drivers, and maybe disturbed pedestrians could hit or scratch the car. I don't need more stress in my life, and having my car emit a way loud unceasing chord like singing angel/demons is undesirable. It would be one thing if such chords were common and people were used to them. But no...

Well, it's only been three days. We'll study the problem. I appreciate the chance to ventilate.
 
#14 ·
My family's 2020 EX CRV Hybrid is 3 days old. Tonight at about midnight the pedestrian alarm went off when my husband drove off and I was standing by the car. It was a beautiful noise like a chord, but was soooo loud that I was sure the neighbors would be disturbed. We had no clue what was wrong. He stopped and started the car a few times. Finally he just drove off.

It's surely going to cause anxiety for CRV drivers, and maybe disturbed pedestrians could hit or scratch the car. I don't need more stress in my life, and having my car emit a way loud unceasing chord like singing angel/demons is undesirable. It would be one thing if such chords were common and people were used to them. But no...

Well, it's only been three days. We'll study the problem. I appreciate the chance to ventilate.
It's a law. I'm going to guess you didn't do enough research on hybrids before buying one. Since it's only been 3 days, maybe you can return it and get a regular gas powered CR-V. :)
 
#16 ·
The most obvious place these sounds are beneficial is in a parking lot of a grocery store. Picture an older lady putting her groceries in her trunk/hatch, closing it, then heading across the isle to put the cart in the corral. An electric car or Hybrid in EV mode is approaching from the left, but she did not see it, as she was headed to the corral on the right.

OR a pedestrian is about to cross a street in a cross walk at a intersection...same scenario.

We are trained to listen as well as look for danger. Often times the sound is the first alert we hear.

I am not saying it wouldn't be annoying in a quiet suburban neighborhood at midnight....but then neither is my neighbors Harley! Fortunately, he doesn't ride it at midnight!
 
  • Like
Reactions: williamsji
#21 ·
OOOOK - So I don't know whether to laugh or cry... We decided to upgrade to a fancier CR-V (If you could say that) from a lower trim. To go with the times, we also decided to make it a hybrid. TBH, the gas savings is negligible if even possible over the regular CR-V, that said I'm determined to go energy saving even if it costs me more. We went to the dealer yesterday and during the test drive "I became aware of that hideous sound". Mind you I am so "hard headed" that I want to push forward and still buy this hybrid CR-V, but indubitably "I" will "tirelessly" work on a solution to get rid of that sound. After reading these threads - Will I disconnect or muffle the speaker? Probably not "Unless" it becomes unbearable, BUT... I will definitely SEEK, FIND, CREATE a different sound. Someone above mentioned a "MORE LIKE" engine sound and I have to agree. Even if it was weird that my family wagon "LIKE" CR-V sounded like a Mustang, I think an engine sound would be "WORLDS" better than whatever that thing is.
 
#25 ·
It's a law for the manufacturers to have the speaker on the car. There aren't any laws to prosecute people for removing/changing it.

Think of bumpers. Honda needs to install 5mph bumpers to legally sell the car. There are custom bumpers on lots of Civics out there that don't comply, and no one is going to jail over it.
 
#26 ·
Sure you won't get charged for it.... Unless you hit someone or get in an auto accident. Someone can sue you for any reason and a safety feature disabled is good ammo to win a suit with. Also insurance companies are looking for ANY reason not to pay you on your claim. This is good ammo for them to stiff you.

And if you live in a state that requires inspections to renew your registration they will not pass you. You get caught with expired registration? You get big fines. It's a damn sticker on your plates it's easy for a cop to spot it.

I just said all these things....
 
#31 ·
Hypothetically now, if you were not in the US and were not required to make the sound...
And if you didn't want to throw a code, it's a standard 8-ohm loudspeaker.
They do make 10-ohm 10-watt wirewound resistors that are inexpensive...
 
  • Like
Reactions: sjw91
#32 ·

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 141, Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles

Well read up on the law Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 141, Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles


two threads here
 
  • Like
Reactions: williamsji
#40 ·
Absolutely.

In my opinion... when something is stated as a declarative fact, when it is highly likely that it is not fact.... I think fellow readers would also like to have that opinion expressed. It can help others avoid some costly advice if you live in a different state with different policies and laws.

If we did not have 50 different states all pursuing their own views on vehicle safety, inspections, mandates, etc... we are always going to get some challenge separating what one state allows and another will ticket/fine your for. :)

Which is why in most of my opinion statements, I context it to the state I live in. Same goes for a wide range of things that can and do vary by state.

It does matter. Just a few regular examples from forum discussion here to simply illustrate that states are not all on the same page:

- Florida, for example, will not let you buy a HondaCare policy from an out of state dealer.

- 8 states follow California emissions mandates and force extended warranties on the emissions related, which is more stringent than the federal standards. And these states enforce through one or more inspection processes.

- Some states do annual vehicle inspections, with a wide range of what is on their list of things to inspect and verify. California is one of the most stringent, as they do a complete inspection of all the engine components and emission systems looking for owner modifications. About a 1/3 of the time I take one of my vehicles in for smog/inspection certification (you cannot renew your vehicle registration until you do) I see a Civic owner being dressed down and denied certification because the owner had put a number of aftermarket parts into the engine that are not approved under California emissions laws.

.. point made.... so I'll stop. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top