pedestrian alert forward sound

[empowerrepower]

I can hear the pedestrian alert sound when reversing, but am not sure there is any sound when going forward slowly. I've tried listening with the windows down and a/c off, and even had my daughter stand outside the car. The dealer told me it is a quiet sound, so perhaps it is extremely quiet.   Could someone please tell me what they hear when going forward at low speeds?

[caskings]

Yes it's there. The volume increases in line with the speed of the vehicle, until about 35km/h (?) at which point it stops.

[quaternary]

Mar 21, 2015 1:00:34 GMT 11 empowerrepower said:

I can hear the pedestrian alert sound when reversing, but am not sure there is any sound when going forward slowly. I've tried listening with the windows down and a/c off, and even had my daughter stand outside the car. The dealer told me it is a quiet sound, so perhaps it is extremely quiet.   Could someone please tell me what they hear when going forward at low speeds?

I actually found it really hard to hear initially. I discovered it when I was driving down a narrow alleyway, driving slowly, windows down, and I was toggling the "warning sound pause switch", and all of a sudden my brain tuned in to it as I toggled it on and off.  The limited space seemed to amplify the sound.  I can subsequently pick it out fine.

(Curiously, I've read that in later model Leafs this button was removed, and had been cited as one of the disappointments of upgrading to a new model. So evidently the sound must be more annoying to some than others.)

[empowerrepower]

I've had another go at listening for it, with my husband walking alongside the car, but still not sure we can hear anything. I'll have to wait until I meet another Leaf driver in person, and listen to theirs.

[Feng]

Have you tried turning it off and on while testing so you can hear the difference? It's a lot more obvious if you know what to listen for.

I remember how funny it was when we had our first meet. There were three of us at the Westfield Hornsby carpark and when we drove around with the windows down looking for power points at 8am in the morning all you could hear was the whining of our pedestrian noises in the car park.

[empowerrepower]

OK, I finally heard the sound. Last night, very quiet outside, I wound down my windows and pressed the forward alert sound button on and off, and could juuuuuuuuust hear it, very faint. Don't think it will be protecting any pedestrians, just glad that the reversing sound is better.

[Feng]

Maybe you can meet with another owner to compare the volume? It's usually fairly noticeable for me. Even with the windows up I can just make it out.

[Phoebe]

I didn't even know there is a forward alert sound button.  Where is it?

[caroline]

I can't hear mine at all - either can the kids who have better hearing than me!

[empowerrepower]

Hi Caroline,

I had the same experience. Eventually I managed to just hear it by winding the window down and turning the on/off switch a few times. I think it is so quiet as to be useless. Happily, the reversing sound is more audible.

[caroline]

Finally figured this one out - the button turns the sound off! I thought the noise was the normal car noise!

[iamlsd]

So is the button for the reversing sound the same button for the forward sound? I sometimes think I can hear a forward sound but most of the time think I'm deluding myself

[Feng]

Yep, same button.

[empowerrepower]

Hmmm, my understanding was that the reversing sound can't be turned off, for safety reasons.

[Feng]

I'm glad it does, unless mine is slightly different to yours. Great for backing out of driveways very late at night.

[jacky]

I jumped into my car and tested. The button controls both sounds. But my car is also a silver so maybe other colours LEAFs behave differently. Haha.