[nfbwatlk] Fw: Article on Hybrids

[Mike Freeman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Frederick Driver
To: list at cfb.ca
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: Article on Hybrids


Thanks.  Here's the full text below.

[quote]

Blind People: Hybrid Cars Pose Hazard

   By BEN NUCKOLS - 13 hours ago

   BALTIMORE (AP) - Gas-electric hybrid vehicles, the status symbol for
   the environmentally conscientious, are coming under attack from a
   constituency that doesn't drive: the blind.

   Because hybrids make virtually no noise at slower speeds when they 
run
   solely on electric power, blind people say they pose a hazard to 
those
   who rely on their ears to determine whether it's safe to cross the
   street or walk through a parking lot.

   "I'm used to being able to get sound cues from my environment and
   negotiate accordingly. I hadn't imagined there was anything I really
   wouldn't be able to hear," said Deborah Kent Stein, chairwoman of the
   National Federation of the Blind's Committee on Automotive and
Pedestrian Safety. "We did a test, and I discovered, to my great
   dismay, that I couldn't hear it."

   The tests - admittedly unscientific - involved people standing in
   parking lots or on sidewalks who were asked to signal when they heard
   several different hybrid models drive by.

   "People were making comments like, 'When are they going to start the
   test?' And it would turn out that the vehicle had already done two or
   three laps around the parking lot," Stein said.

   As gas prices continue to rise - along with concern about harmful
   emissions - hybrid cars are increasing in popularity. New hybrid
   vehicle registrations grew more than 49 percent nationwide in the
   first seven months of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006,
   according to R.L. Polk & Co., an automotive research firm. Toyota
   Motor Corp. has sold nearly 460,000 of the most popular hybrid model,
   the Prius, since it hit the market in 2000, according to the company,
   which pegs total hybrid sales at just over 900,000.
Officials with the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind
   are quick to point out that they're not advocating a return to gas
   guzzlers. They'd just like the fuel-efficient hybrids to make some
   noise.

   NFB President Marc Maurer said he received an e-mail from an
   environmentalist who suggested that the members of his group should 
be
   the first to drown when sea levels rise from global warming.

   "I don't want to pick that way of going, but I don't want to get run
   over by a quiet car, either," Maurer said.

   The NFB - the leading advocacy group for 1.3 million legally blind
   people in the United States - made pleas to the auto industry and to
   federal and state agencies, with little concrete success so far. On
   Wednesday, the president of the NFB's Maryland chapter planned to
   present written testimony asking for a minimum sound standard for
   hybrids to be included in the state's emissions regulations.

   But those regulations are crafted by the Maryland Department of the
Environment, which has no oversight of auto safety, said Robert
   Ballinger, a spokesman for the department. He said the department
   would work with the NFB to press the issue with auto manufacturers 
and
   federal transportation officials.

   Manufacturers are aware of the problem but have made no pledges yet.
   Toyota is studying the issue internally, said Bill Kwong, a spokesman
   for Toyota Motor Sales USA.

   "One of the many benefits of the Prius, besides excellent fuel 
economy
   and low emissions, is quiet performance. Not only does it not pollute
   the air, it doesn't create noise pollution," Kwong said. "We are
   studying the issue and trying to find that delicate balance."

   The Association of International Auto Manufacturers Inc., a trade
   group, is also studying the problem, along with a committee
   established by the Society of Automotive Engineers. The groups are
   considering "the possibility of setting a minimum noise level 
standard
   for hybrid vehicles," said Mike Camissa, the safety director for the
   manufacturers' association.

   Officials with two separate arms of the U.S. Department of
   Transportation - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
   and the Federal Highway Administration - said they are aware of the
   problem but have not studied it.

   While Stein said she would prefer that hybrids sound similar to
   conventional engines, other blind people said they'd be fine with any
   sound that was inoffensive but easy to detect. Both sides agree that
   it wouldn't be prohibitively expensive to outfit cars with an 
adequate
   noisemaking device.

   "It's cheaper than an air bag or other safety devices," Kwong said.
   "Any kind of audio device is going to be relatively inexpensive."

   The blind, however, will have to win over some hybrid owners as well
   as advocates for reduced noise pollution. Some think that making
   hybrids louder won't solve anything.

   "To further expose millions of people to excessive noise pollution by
making vehicles artificially loud is neither logical nor practical nor
   in the public interest," said Richard Tur, founder of NoiseOFF, a
   group that raises awareness of noise pollution.

   Others believe that distracted pedestrians are at greater risk than
   blind people from quiet cars.

   "The only way to function driving any car, forgetting the fact that
   it's a Prius, is to just be very careful and see who's around you,"
   said George Margolin of Newport Beach, Calif., who runs a club for
   Prius owners with his wife. "We have to be as careful as anyone else
   and perhaps even more so."

   Blind people are not the only ones who've had close calls. Linda
   Murphy, 57, a personal administrative assistant from San Marcos,
   Calif., has 20/20 vision when she wears her glasses, but she's almost
   been hit twice by hybrids.

   "I'm walking right in back of it and it's moving and I didn't realize
   it until it nearly touched me," Murphy said, describing the first of
her scares. "I never realized how dependent I was on my ears until I
   almost got hit."


http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsGpI3VcZk2quvxVBKkyZ3CVf7WgD8S1IEPG0



On Wed, 3 Oct 2007, Oriano wrote:

> Sounds like we are going up against environmentalists.  To bad that 
> the article writer decided on this spin in covering the issue.
>
> http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsGpI3VcZk2quvxVBKkyZ3CVf7WgD8S1IEPG0
>
> Oriano
>
-------------- next part --------------
----- Original Message -----
From:
mailto:wt329 at victoria.tc.ca Frederick Driver
To:
mailto:list at cfb.ca list at cfb.ca
Sent:
Wednesday, October 03, 2007 11:58 AM
Subject:
Re: Article on Hybrids
Thanks.  Here's the full text below.
[quote]
Blind People: Hybrid Cars Pose Hazard
   By BEN NUCKOLS - 13 hours ago
   BALTIMORE (AP) - Gas-electric hybrid vehicles, the status symbol for
   the environmentally conscientious, are coming under attack from a
   constituency that doesn't drive: the blind.
   Because hybrids make virtually no noise at slower speeds when they run
   solely on electric power, blind people say they pose a hazard to those
   who rely on their ears to determine whether it's safe to cross the
   street or walk through a parking lot.
   "I'm used to being able to get sound cues from my environment and
   negotiate accordingly. I hadn't imagined there was anything I really
   wouldn't be able to hear," said Deborah Kent Stein, chairwoman of the
   National Federation of the Blind's Committee on Automotive and
Pedestrian Safety. "We did a test, and I discovered, to my great
   dismay, that I couldn't hear it."
   The tests - admittedly unscientific - involved people standing in
   parking lots or on sidewalks who were asked to signal when they heard
   several different hybrid models drive by.
   "People were making comments like, 'When are they going to start the
   test?' And it would turn out that the vehicle had already done two or
   three laps around the parking lot," Stein said.
   As gas prices continue to rise - along with concern about harmful
   emissions - hybrid cars are increasing in popularity. New hybrid
   vehicle registrations grew more than 49 percent nationwide in the
   first seven months of 2007 compared with the same period in 2006,
   according to R.L. Polk & Co., an automotive research firm. Toyota
   Motor Corp. has sold nearly 460,000 of the most popular hybrid model,
   the Prius, since it hit the market in 2000, according to the company,
   which pegs total hybrid sales at just over 900,000.
Officials with the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind
   are quick to point out that they're not advocating a return to gas
   guzzlers. They'd just like the fuel-efficient hybrids to make some
   noise.
   NFB President Marc Maurer said he received an e-mail from an
   environmentalist who suggested that the members of his group should be
   the first to drown when sea levels rise from global warming.
   "I don't want to pick that way of going, but I don't want to get run
   over by a quiet car, either," Maurer said.
   The NFB - the leading advocacy group for 1.3 million legally blind
   people in the United States - made pleas to the auto industry and to
   federal and state agencies, with little concrete success so far. On
   Wednesday, the president of the NFB's Maryland chapter planned to
   present written testimony asking for a minimum sound standard for
   hybrids to be included in the state's emissions regulations.
   But those regulations are crafted by the Maryland Department of the
Environment, which has no oversight of auto safety, said Robert
   Ballinger, a spokesman for the department. He said the department
   would work with the NFB to press the issue with auto manufacturers and
   federal transportation officials.
   Manufacturers are aware of the problem but have made no pledges yet.
   Toyota is studying the issue internally, said Bill Kwong, a spokesman
   for Toyota Motor Sales USA.
   "One of the many benefits of the Prius, besides excellent fuel economy
   and low emissions, is quiet performance. Not only does it not pollute
   the air, it doesn't create noise pollution," Kwong said. "We are
   studying the issue and trying to find that delicate balance."
   The Association of International Auto Manufacturers Inc., a trade
   group, is also studying the problem, along with a committee
   established by the Society of Automotive Engineers. The groups are
   considering "the possibility of setting a minimum noise level standard
   for hybrid vehicles," said Mike Camissa, the safety director for the
   manufacturers' association.
   Officials with two separate arms of the U.S. Department of
   Transportation - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
   and the Federal Highway Administration - said they are aware of the
   problem but have not studied it.
   While Stein said she would prefer that hybrids sound similar to
   conventional engines, other blind people said they'd be fine with any
   sound that was inoffensive but easy to detect. Both sides agree that
   it wouldn't be prohibitively expensive to outfit cars with an adequate
   noisemaking device.
   "It's cheaper than an air bag or other safety devices," Kwong said.
   "Any kind of audio device is going to be relatively inexpensive."
   The blind, however, will have to win over some hybrid owners as well
   as advocates for reduced noise pollution. Some think that making
   hybrids louder won't solve anything.
   "To further expose millions of people to excessive noise pollution by
making vehicles artificially loud is neither logical nor practical nor
   in the public interest," said Richard Tur, founder of NoiseOFF, a
   group that raises awareness of noise pollution.
   Others believe that distracted pedestrians are at greater risk than
   blind people from quiet cars.
   "The only way to function driving any car, forgetting the fact that
   it's a Prius, is to just be very careful and see who's around you,"
   said George Margolin of Newport Beach, Calif., who runs a club for
   Prius owners with his wife. "We have to be as careful as anyone else
   and perhaps even more so."
   Blind people are not the only ones who've had close calls. Linda
   Murphy, 57, a personal administrative assistant from San Marcos,
   Calif., has 20/20 vision when she wears her glasses, but she's almost
   been hit twice by hybrids.
   "I'm walking right in back of it and it's moving and I didn't realize
   it until it nearly touched me," Murphy said, describing the first of
her scares. "I never realized how dependent I was on my ears until I
   almost got hit."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsGpI3VcZk2quvxVBKkyZ3CVf7WgD8S1IEPG0 http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsGpI3VcZk2quvxVBKkyZ3CVf7WgD8S1IEPG0
On Wed, 3 Oct 2007, Oriano wrote:
> Sounds like we are going up against environmentalists.  To bad that the article writer decided on this spin in covering the issue.
>
> http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsGpI3VcZk2quvxVBKkyZ3CVf7WgD8S1IEPG0 http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsGpI3VcZk2quvxVBKkyZ3CVf7WgD8S1IEPG0
>
> Oriano
>