[Mt-blind] Fwd: Blind Pedestrians Say Quiet Hybrids Pose Safety Threat

[Dan Burke]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Pare, John" <JPare at nfb.org>
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 09:37:52 -0500
Subject: Blind Pedestrians Say Quiet Hybrids Pose Safety Threat
To: "Pare, John" <JPare at nfb.org>

Outlet: The Wall Street Journal
Date: February 13, 2007
Impressions: 4,699,441




Blind Pedestrians Say Quiet Hybrids Pose Safety Threat


By RAYMUND FLANDEZ
February 13, 2007; Page B1

For blind people, crossing the street is becoming even more of a
challenge.

Michael Osborn, a blind marketing consultant from Laguna Beach, Calif.,
and his guide dog, Hastings, were in the middle of an intersection one
morning last April when the yellow Lab stopped short. Mr. Osborn took
the cue and halted -- just in time to feel the breeze from a car passing
right in front of them.

"Half an inch and it would have hit us ... it wasn't making any noise,"
says Mr. Osborn, 50, who has been blind for 12 years. Witnesses say the
car was a Toyota Prius, a hybrid vehicle.

Hybrids deliver better mileage and less pollution than traditional cars
by switching between a gasoline engine and an electric motor. But when
operating on the electric battery, especially when idling at a stop or
running at low speeds, the engine in a hybrid is almost silent. A hybrid
vehicle is generally quieter than a vacuum cleaner.

"I'm an environmentalist, and I'm all for quiet cars," says Mr. Osborn.
"But it poses a particular problem for somebody who has no vision."

Blind pedestrians using a guide dog or cane are largely dependent on the
sounds of traffic to cross streets safely. For a blind person, "it's
very important to be able to gather auditory and tactile cues from the
environment," says Sumara Shakeel, of Toms River, N.J., who is a
rehabilitation teacher for the New Jersey Commission for the Blind.

Hybrid cars became commercially available to mainstream consumers in
2000 and are gaining in popularity. Nationwide, registrations for new
hybrids more than doubled to 199,148 in 2005 from 83,153 in 2004,
according to R.L. Polk & Co., an automotive research firm. At least a
dozen states and several cities are encouraging drivers to buy
fuel-efficient hybrids by offering tax breaks and other incentives, and
the vehicles are being added to municipal fleets. Still, the total
392,000 hybrids on the road reflect just over 1% of all new vehicle
registrations in the U.S.

The National Federation of the Blind, an advocacy group, says all hybrid
vehicles should emit a sound while turned on and is calling on the auto
industry to make changes. The group says the sound should be loud enough
to be heard over the din of other ambient noise.

Members of the NFB's Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety have
discussed sound cues that hybrids could use to alert pedestrians,
including a device built into the axle that could make a sound as the
wheels rotate, or a sensor that blind travelers could carry that would
indicate when a hybrid is in the vicinity. The committee has yet to have
a formal meeting with auto industry representatives.

Quiet cars pose a problem for not only those with limited vision, says
the NFB's Debbie Stein, but also for sighted pedestrians, cyclists and
the elderly who rely on sound to gauge the position and speed of cars.

While there are no national data on pedestrian injuries or deaths
related to low-noise cars, the NFB argues that a link will be more
discernible as quiet vehicles become more common. Police reports often
don't record what kind of automobile caused a pedestrian-vehicle
collision, and the insurance industry says it doesn't have those
figures. In 2005, 4,881 pedestrians were killed nationwide, according to
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an increase of about
2% since 2000.

"We want to get ahead of this and not have to wait until five blind
people end up seriously hurt or dead," says Gary Wunder, who is on the
NFB's Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety.

Some businesses are taking action. Several guide dog schools are
planning to use hybrid vehicles when training animals to acclimate them.
Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc., with campuses in Oregon and California,
uses electric golf carts to simulate the quiet cars.

So far, advocacy groups' pleas for louder hybrids have failed to
generate much noise in automotive circles. A spokesman for the Alliance
of Automotive Manufacturers, an industry group, says he wasn't aware of
the issue. "We're interested in hearing about the concerns of the blind
community, and we'll work with them to ensure that they're addressed,"
says alliance spokesman Charles Territo.

Sev MacPete, founder of the Toyota Prius Club of San Diego, dismisses
the idea that hybrids pose a safety threat. He says blind pedestrians
are easy to spot because they usually have a special white cane with red
tip. "And if you could say anything about hybrid drivers, they are more
aware of their surroundings than other drivers," Mr. MacPete says.

Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong says he wasn't aware of the issue and
believes that the responsibility lies with drivers and pedestrians to
watch out for each other. Mr. Kwong adds, "One of the benefits of the
vehicles is that they don't contribute to traffic noise."

Photo and Caption



Last summer at the Nation Federation of the Blind convention in Dallas,
a crowd of blind people listened for a Toyota Prius hybrid. Members of
the group were asked to raise their hands as soon as they heard the
vehicle approaching.













































Side Bar



Sounding Off: Noise levels of common sounds, in decibels



Garbage truck                                                  100

Busy Urban Street                                            90

Vacuum Cleaner                                               70

Toyota Prius electric power (accelerating)         53

Conversation at home                                       50



Sources: WSJ research; dangerousdecibles.org