[Mt-blind] FW: UCR press release: Hybrid Cars Are Harder to Hear

[dmgina]

I am not impressed, when I asked for training on how to work with the car 
problem with my dog.
guess I will wait two more years rite?
Did you see the article, where a blind lady's foot got ran over because of a 
lady backing up in her car?
Same kind of car.
Hope the blind lady didn't have sandals on.
Oh dreadful.
Or a dogs paws getting run over.
Yes they know how to back up with a moving car,
but we haven't been trained with this yet.

--Dar
www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
Every Saint has a past
Every Sinner has a future

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Daniel Burke" <burke.dall at gmail.com>
To: "'Montana Association for the Blind List'" <mt-blind at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 7:00 PM
Subject: [Mt-blind] FW: UCR press release: Hybrid Cars Are Harder to Hear


As it happens, I saw a feature on a Weather Channel program yesterday
discussing the advances in electric cars -- including high performance
sports cars that can go from 0-60 in 6 seconds.  Within a couple of years,
some car manufacturers plan to have hybrids out as options for all of their
models.

Dan


   _____

From: Freeh, Jessica [mailto:JFreeh at nfb.org]
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 6:39 AM
To: Alfonse DeLucia; Alpidio Rolon; Amy Buresh; Anil Lewis; Art Schreiber;
Barbara Pierce; Bob Brown; Bob Kresmer; Carl Jacobsen; Cathy Jackson;
Charlene Smyth; Chris McKenzie; Daniel Burke; David Ticchi; Debbie Briddell;
Don Galloway; Donna Wood; Elizabeth Rousseau-Rooney; Elsie Lamp; Franklin
Shiner; Fred Schroeder; Fred Wurtzel; Gary Wunder; James Antonacci; Jennelle
Bichler; Jennifer Dunnam; Joe Ruffalo; John Batron; John Fritz; Joyce
Scanlan; Kathy Davis; Kevan Worley; Marie Johnson; Michael Barber; Michael
Freeman; Michael Gosse; Michael Seay; Nani Fife; Pam Allen; Parnell Diggs;
Patti Chang; Richard Gaffney; Robert Stigile; Ron Brown; Ron Gardner; Sam
Gleese; Scott LaBarre; Selena Sundling-Crawford; Steven Priddle; Tim Jones;
Tommy Craig; Vincent Armstrong
Subject: UCR press release: Hybrid Cars Are Harder to Hear


University of California, Riverside Press Release:

Hybrid Cars Are Harder to Hear

Quiet vehicles may pose greater risks to pedestrians, UCR psychologist
finds.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Hybrid cars are so quiet when operating only with their
electric
motors that they may pose a risk to the blind and some other pedestrians,
research by a
University of California, Riverside psychologist suggests.

Preliminary results of the on-going research project show that hybrid cars
operating at
very slow speeds must be 40 percent closer to pedestrians than
combustion-engine
vehicles before their location can be audibly detected, said Lawrence
Rosenblum,
professor of psychology. Those findings have implications for pedestrians
who are blind,
runners, cyclists, small children, and others, he said.

“There is a real difference between the audibility of hybrid vehicles and
those with
traditional internal combustion engines that could have effects on the
safety of
pedestrians which need to be studied,” Rosenblum said. “Our preliminary
findings could
mean that there is an added danger with hybrid cars, particularly at
intersections and in
parking lots.”

In a research project funded by the National Federation of the Blind,
Rosenblum made
audio recordings of hybrid and combustion-engine cars in a quiet parking
lot. The
vehicles moved no faster than 5 miles per hour to assure that the hybrid car
operated only
with its electric motor. Subjects in a lab listened to the recordings and
indicated when
they could hear from which direction the car approached. Subjects could make
these
judgments sooner when listening to the combustion-engine car than when
listening to the
hybrid car.

At speeds above 20 to 25 miles per hour hybrid cars likely generate enough
tire and
aerodynamic noise to make them sufficiently audible, Rosenblum said.

“This research provides evidence that hybrid cars, when operating in silent
mode, pose a
substantial risk to blind people and other pedestrians. We hope that
regulators and car
manufacturers will take notice of these results and take steps to eliminate
this risk,” said
Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind, a
50,000-member
advocacy organization for people who are blind or have low vision.

Rosenblum, who is an adviser to the Society of Automotive Engineers and sits
on
committees that make recommendations to the auto industry, has spent many
years
researching perception of approaching cars and whether there are
similarities between
visual and auditory perception of approach.

“I really do feel this is an issue for more than those who are blind,” he
said. “We’re also
talking about bike riders, runners and others. Walking around with my kids
in a parking
lot makes it very clear that I’m using hearing and vision to determine where
things are.”

Rosenblum is continuing the study with greater levels of background noise
and
eventually will test people who are blind in parking lots to determine the
level of risk. In
April he will meet with Stanford University researchers who are developing
different
sounds that would enhance the ability of pedestrians to hear approaching
hybrid and
electric cars.

“Everyone’s aware of the issue,” he said. However, Rosenblum said, “We are
not talking
about major changes to the way automobiles are designed, but about slightly
increasing
their audibility when they are traveling slowly. Only a subtle sound
enhancement should
be required.”


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