Silent Streets
An Open Letter To Elon Musk

I've been a supporter of yours, and of your colleagues at Tesla, for some time.  I attempt to educate people on Teslas, and the importance of sustainable transportation in general, whenever possible.  Until recently, I've felt that what you and the Tesla team have been doing is vital to the health of humanity and the planet at large.  Until recently.

On October 6th  2019 you announced an upcoming over the air software update for Tesla vehicles: the option for Tesla owners to use a fart or goat scream sound as their horn or pedestrian alert, and the possible future option of Tesla owners to customize the sound of their horn and pedestrian alert to be whatever they choose.  On January 11th 2020 you announced that announced an additional feature of the pending software update: the option for Tesla owners to play pre-recorded phrases provided by Tesla, such as "Well don't just stand there staring, hop in…".  And on August 20th 2020, you announced that there will be a "new Tesla feature coming that enables your car to play snake jazz or Polynesian elevator music through its outside speakers wherever you go".  If you do indeed go through with this update, I believe it will result in several extremely negative societal effects.

The narcissistic elements of both urban and suburban populations already contribute excess noise to the environment under the cry of, “It’s my right!”  Given all the blaring music, deafening motorcycles, and now noisy racecar-like exhausts installed on average vehicles, it is impossible to imagine these people will not abuse every opportunity to make their attention seeking efforts as obnoxious and ubiquitous as your technology allows.

Noise pollution is more than an assault on aesthetics.  People living with constant irritation suffer psychological stress that leads to hostility, health issues, lower work productivity, and a host of other problems.  Noise reduction should be a significant added benefit to a world switching to electric transport — negating this benefit is a giant step backward.

One need only look at how divisive our world has become since the advent of social media; since people of all depths have been allowed to "express themselves" and to network with their ilk.  The original intent of the horn is to alert people to danger, but even now we see it more often used to express anger or to attract attention.  Imagine allowing every subset of humanity to express itself aurally, and forcing all of society to bear it.

If you do allow this, below is a small preview of what I believe is surely to come from a few of the more extreme elements within our society:

1. The Misogynistic and Hyper Sexualized: orgasmic, or similar, sound triggered whenever a "hot chick" is seen

2. The Racist: overt, or code sound known among racists, triggered whenever a targeted race is seen

3. The Homophobe: overt, or code sound known among homophobes, triggered whenever a suspected homosexual is seen

4. The Political Zealot: overt, or code sound known among a political group, triggered whenever a suspected political opponent is seen

5. The Religious Zealot: overt, or code sound known among a religious group, triggered whenever a person of a targeted faith is seen

6. The Corporation: employees and customers of companies using their company’s theme song to advertise a product or service (imagine “McDonalds; I’m loving it!”, broadcast every time someone hits their "horn")

7. The Anything Sound: overt, or code sound know among Any Group Or Individual, triggered when anyone anywhere wants to express themselves out of insecurity, bravado, pride, rage, joy, etc.

Please do not make this an option for Teslas.  I know you think farts are funny, or you wouldn't have added "fart mode" for Tesla owners to play inside of their vehicles.  I'm all for whoever playing whatever sound inside of their vehicle.  However, if you allow anyone to play any sound other than the traditional "You're in danger, pay attention!" horn sound outside of their vehicle, we are doomed.  You will — single handedly — have pushed society a very large step toward Idiocracy.

In a world that has grown increasingly tribalized and more prone to engage in combative and insulting behavior, we should not be weaponizing technology.  People commonly adopt their worst personas when driving — especially when someone or something angers them.  Blaring horns are bad enough for escalating road rage. Any sound emitted from a vehicle other than the traditional horn, whether in place of it or in addition to it, will bring this to another level entirely.  Even if you only allow Tesla's to "fart in their general direction" as you claim in your post, those targeted will not go unanswered.  You will spawn an aftermarket of audio devices that non-Tesla owners will affix to their vehicles in order to respond — in speech.  At this point the cat will be fully out of the bag.  We will see road rage (and non-road rage) incidents escalate to never before experienced levels.  You will start a toxic epidemic; a chain reaction of retaliation that will ripple throughout society. 

The aspect of electric transportation that I and many others have been most looking forward to is not what it adds to society, but what it subtracts — noise.  I hope to see the day where society is free of obnoxious sound.  A day when one can sit in their back yard, or a  park, or on a patio downtown, and hear a bird, or wind through a tree, or the person they're speaking to.  This is the hope you and your team have been offering to many through Tesla, whether you know it or not.  This software update however, will end all of this.  

I know you and the Tesla team are good people trying to do good things.  But this is a  mistake.  Please, do not launch this software update.  If you have already launched it by the time this letter reaches you, please retract it.

Brad Lyons
Artists United

August, 2020

If you are in agreement, please share this widely, including with media outlets you resonate with (i.e. Wired, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, your local newspaper, etc).

For a PDF of this open letter, please click HERE.