[nfbwatlk] Fw: Blind Pedestrians Say Quiet Hybrids Pose SafetyThreat

[Kaye Kipp]

And why would hybrid car drivers be more aware of their surroundings than 
anyone else?  That doesn't make any sense.

Kaye
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 4:30 PM
Subject: [nfbwatlk] Fw: Blind Pedestrians Say Quiet Hybrids Pose 
SafetyThreat


> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Pare, John" <JPare at NFB.ORG>
> To: "Pare, John" <JPare at NFB.ORG>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 6:37 AM
> Subject: Blind Pedestrians Say Quiet Hybrids Pose Safety Threat
>
>
> Outlet: The Wall Street Journal
> Date: February 13, 2007
> Impressions: 4,699,441
>
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> 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.
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> Side Bar
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> 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
>
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> Sources: WSJ research; dangerousdecibles.org
>
>


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