Patent ID: 8773253

Claim:
A vehicle notification sound emitting apparatus comprising: a sound emitting device configured to emit a movement notification sound to outside of a vehicle to inform a person in an area surrounding the vehicle that the vehicle is moving at a low speed; and a notification sound control device configured to operate the sound emitting device to selectively emit the movement notification sound, and configured to stop the emission of the movement notification sound upon the vehicle speed exceeding a first prescribed vehicle speed, and to start the emission of the movement notification sound upon the vehicle speed subsequently falling below a second prescribed vehicle speed that is lower than the first prescribed vehicle speed, the notification sound control device including a notification sound prohibiting section configured to prohibit an emission of the movement notification sound by the sound emitting device in response to a manual operation performed by a driver when the vehicle speed is lower than the first prescribed vehicle speed, and a prohibition cancelling section configured to automatically cancel a notification sound emission prohibition imposed by the notification sound prohibiting section, which occurs in response to the manual operation, upon a vehicle speed of the vehicle exceeding a third prescribed vehicle speed, the third prescribed vehicle speed of the prohibition cancelling section being set to a value equal to or larger than the first prescribed vehicle speed.