[Mt-blind] Saw this article in a Detroit Newspaper and thought you all would find this interesting

[Carl Schweitzer]

Blind walkers fear quiet hybrids
Advocates add silent vehicles to guide dogs' training as engineers study risk
Edward L. Cardenas / The Detroit News
ROCHESTER -- Consumers may love the silence of battery-powered hybrid cars, but for Troy Buffum, it can be deadly. 

Buffum, who has very limited sight, was almost hit by a hybrid once while crossing the street in his native Grinnell, Iowa, because he couldn't hear it. To cope, he tapped his cane and hoped drivers were paying attention. 

"(Hybrids) are scary for a blind person," said Buffum, 30. 

 That's because blind people depend in part on noisy engines to alert them when they are close to an intersection or roadway. 

Hybrids run on gasoline and a rechargeable battery. The danger of hybrids running in silent battery mode has become so pervasive that the Troy-based Society of Automotive Engineers has formed a task force to study how to make the cars louder without compromising environmental efficiency. 

Meanwhile, groups such as the Rochester-based Leader Dogs for the Blind are incorporating hybrids into their leader-dog training to help dogs recognize the new danger and depend more on sight than sound. 

Buffum is undergoing one month of training with the Leader Dogs group, which has acquired a donated Toyota Prius. The next time Buffum crosses the street, he'll have an additional helper -- a yellow Labrador leader dog named Owen. 

"He is going to give me a lot more independence and security," Buffum said. 

The popularity of hybrids is growing, with 254,545 sold nationwide last year, according to Southfield-based R.L. Polk & Co. Through July, 3,576 hybrids were registered in Michigan, compared with 2,396 registered during the same period in 2006, the firm reported. 

"We are very concerned about hybrid cars. They are virtually silent when they are running on hybrid engines," said Christopher S. Danielsen, public relations specialist for the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind. "We do not have a problem with these cars being on the road. We have a problem with them not making any sound." 

Carmakers study issue
Hybrids aren't always silent. At higher speeds, they run on traditional gasoline engines, which are propelled by thousands of explosions of gasoline and air. At lower speeds, they switch to silent rechargeable batteries. That's a particular threat to the blind. 

At least one hybrid carmaker, Toyota, "is aware of and studying the issue, which involves balancing the needs of sight-impaired people and pedestrians as well other societal concerns such as noise pollution," said Martha Voss, the Washington, D.C.-based national public affairs manager for Toyota. 

"Among the many benefits the Prius and other hybrids offer customers is quiet performance. Typical outdoor ambient noise levels, particularly in urban areas, and the trend toward quiet powertrains in all types of vehicles have raised the need for both drivers and pedestrians to exercise increased caution." 

A spokesman for Ford Motor Co. said the company is "very aware of the concerns." Ford has three hybrid models on the road -- the Mercury Mariner, Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute -- and two more are expected to go into production by the end of 2008. 

"We are a very active participant in the SAE committee working to see if there is an industry solution," spokesman Said Deep said. 

Dogs traditionally have been trained to stop walking with their handler as they cross the street or driveway when they see and hear a car. Now the training has been modified to teach the dogs to rely more on sight. 

Buffum's dog, Owen, is among the first of the nearly 260 dogs who are trained annually by Leader Dogs for the Blind to learn to observe and react to hybrids. 

"You can't tell (the hybrid car is) running, and for visually impaired people, it's hard to do," said Keith McGregor, director of training for Leader Dogs. "If (the hybrid) car comes by, (the dogs) have to learn to stop." 

To assist in the training, an anonymous donor gave Leader Dogs the four-door Prius. The animals spend four months with a trainer and one month with the blind student. 

For the past three months, trainers have been driving the white Prius in and out of parking lots and through intersections in downtown Rochester. 

Dogs that go through the training program include Labradors, German shepherds, golden retrievers and poodles. The dogs learn to respond to commands, walk with their handlers and learn to stop at the end of sidewalks. 

"It is going to save people from injuries and save lives," McGregor said. 

Group urges minimum level
To address the problem on a larger scale, the National Federation of the Blind is calling upon manufacturers to agree on a minimum sound level for hybrids. 

Priscilla Ferris, president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users, said her organization supports that idea, in addition to using specially trained dogs. 

"The judgment of a dog, however intelligent and well-trained, cannot be substituted for the judgment of a human being," Ferris said. "The only solution to the problems these vehicles pose for blind pedestrians, including guide dog users, is for the vehicles to emit a minimum level of sound that the pedestrian can hear." 

The issue is being investigated by a task force established by the Troy-based Society of Automotive Engineers. 

The nearly 20-member group is comprised of representatives from the automotive industry, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and a representative from the blind community. 

"The issue is to (accommodate) those who cannot see the vehicle (coming) without creating an additional noise that will pollute the environment," said Jack Pokrzywa, manager of SAE ground vehicle standards. 
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Blind walkers fear quiet hybrids
Advocates add silent vehicles to guide dogs' training as engineers study risk
Edward L. Cardenas / The Detroit News
ROCHESTER
-- Consumers may love the silence of battery-powered hybrid cars, but for Troy Buffum, it can be deadly.
Buffum, who has very limited sight, was almost hit by a hybrid once while crossing the street in his native Grinnell, Iowa, because he couldn't hear it. To cope, he tapped his cane and hoped drivers were paying attention.
"(Hybrids) are scary for a blind person," said Buffum, 30.
 That's because blind people depend in part on noisy engines to alert them when they are close to an intersection or roadway.
Hybrids run on gasoline and a rechargeable battery. The danger of hybrids running in silent battery mode has become so pervasive that the Troy-based Society of Automotive Engineers has formed a task force to study how to make the cars louder without compromising environmental efficiency.
Meanwhile, groups such as the Rochester-based Leader Dogs for the Blind are incorporating hybrids into their leader-dog training to help dogs recognize the new danger and depend more on sight than sound.
Buffum is undergoing one month of training with the Leader Dogs group, which has acquired a donated Toyota Prius. The next time Buffum crosses the street, he'll have an additional helper -- a yellow Labrador leader dog named Owen.
"He is going to give me a lot more independence and security," Buffum said.
The popularity of hybrids is growing, with 254,545 sold nationwide last year, according to Southfield-based R.L. Polk & Co. Through July, 3,576 hybrids were registered in Michigan, compared with 2,396 registered during the same period in 2006, the firm reported.
"We are very concerned about hybrid cars. They are virtually silent when they are running on hybrid engines," said Christopher S. Danielsen, public relations specialist for the Baltimore-based
National Federation of the Blind. "We do not have a problem with these cars being on the road. We have a problem with them not making any sound."
Carmakers study issue
Hybrids aren't always silent. At higher speeds, they run on traditional gasoline engines, which are propelled by thousands of explosions of gasoline and air. At lower speeds, they switch to silent rechargeable batteries. That's a particular threat to the blind.
At least one hybrid carmaker, Toyota, "is aware of and studying the issue, which involves balancing the needs of sight-impaired people and pedestrians as well other societal concerns such as noise pollution," said Martha Voss, the Washington, D.C.-based national public affairs manager for Toyota.
"Among the many benefits the Prius and other hybrids offer customers is quiet performance. Typical outdoor ambient noise levels, particularly in urban areas, and the trend toward quiet powertrains in all types of vehicles have raised the need for both drivers and pedestrians to exercise increased caution."
A spokesman for Ford Motor Co. said the company is "very aware of the concerns." Ford has three hybrid models on the road -- the Mercury Mariner, Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute -- and two more are expected to go into production by the end of 2008.
"We are a very active participant in the SAE committee working to see if there is an industry solution," spokesman Said Deep said.
Dogs traditionally have been trained to stop walking with their handler as they cross the street or driveway when they see and hear a car. Now the training has been modified to teach the dogs to rely more on sight.
Buffum's dog, Owen, is among the first of the nearly 260 dogs who are trained annually by Leader Dogs for the Blind to learn to observe and react to hybrids.
"You can't tell (the hybrid car is) running, and for visually impaired people, it's hard to do," said Keith McGregor, director of training for Leader Dogs. "If (the hybrid) car comes by, (the dogs) have to learn to stop."
To assist in the training, an anonymous donor gave Leader Dogs the four-door Prius. The animals spend four months with a trainer and one month with the blind student.
For the past three months, trainers have been driving the white Prius in and out of parking lots and through intersections in downtown Rochester.
Dogs that go through the training program include Labradors, German shepherds, golden retrievers and poodles. The dogs learn to respond to commands, walk with their handlers and learn to stop at the end of sidewalks.
"It is going to save people from injuries and save lives," McGregor said.
Group urges minimum level
To address the problem on a larger scale, the National Federation of the Blind is calling upon manufacturers to agree on a minimum sound level for hybrids.
Priscilla Ferris, president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users, said her organization supports that idea, in addition to using specially trained dogs.
"The judgment of a dog, however intelligent and well-trained, cannot be substituted for the judgment of a human being," Ferris said. "The only solution to the problems these vehicles pose for blind pedestrians, including guide dog users, is for the vehicles to emit a minimum level of sound that the pedestrian can hear."
The issue is being investigated by a task force established by the Troy-based Society of Automotive Engineers.
The nearly 20-member group is comprised of representatives from the automotive industry, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and a representative from the blind community.
"The issue is to (accommodate) those who cannot see the vehicle (coming) without creating an additional noise that will pollute the environment," said Jack Pokrzywa, manager of SAE ground vehicle standards.