Hybrid Car Noise Bill to Protect Pedestrians

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by mgeary

From the author of the WSJ article...!

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WOW!

It's not that often that Wall Street Journal writers respond to anyone.

Congrats mgeary.

I'm still trying to get responses from Lingle on a few things. []

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A.R.A.S.
Acceptance Respect Affection and Support
Bob Trask

[mgeary]

Just an update...I did receive an e-mail from DOT/NTSB, they do not track hybrid vehicles as a separate category of vehicle accidents, nor do they track blind pedestrians separately from any other pedestrian injury, so they have no way to shed any light on this topic.

I have not received a response from the National Federation of the Blind.

So far, there is not one documented instance, anywhere, of a blind pedestrian being struck by a hybrid automobile. I'm not saying it hasn't happened, just that I haven't yet been able to find such a thing.

Maybe I'll try to work through the legislators in Hawaii, Maryland, and Virginia who are sponsoring legislation, to see if they are acting because a blind person got scared, or if they have any factual information about real injuries or deaths to blind pedestrians.

Aloha! ;-)

[Bob Orts]

This may get you started:

"We're interested in hearing about the concerns of the blind community, and we'll work with them to ensure that they're addressed," Charles Territo. Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers

"Half an inch and it would have hit us ... it wasn't making any noise," Michael Osborn, Laguna Beach, Calif. Witnesses say the car was a Toyota Prius, a hybrid vehicle.

We confirmed the comparative noise levels of hybrid and gas-powered cars, using a Toyota Prius — one of the more popular models.

Toyota officials say they are studying the issue.

[mgeary]

The proposed legislation in Maryland doesn't actually do anything in the sense of changing requirements. The proposed legislation sets up a "task force" to study the issue. I'm all for studying the issue, and not studying the issue to death, i.e. tabling the issue. If there are legitimate concerns based on a statistically demonstrable, actual hazard to blind people, and a reasonable solution can be made, well, I'm good with that. Here is that bill.

The National Federation for the Blind has a "model" legislation proposal for the various states to adopt here

The Hawaii proposed legislation looks very much like the NFB "model", and can be found here. Apparently, the Hawaii State Legislature has taken the matter on "faith", and is willing to pass potentially costly requirements on new technology automobiles in the absence of any proof of need. IMHO, that's bad legislation.

I wasn't able to look at the Virginia bill without registering on their website, so I haven't got that, yet.

Aloha! ;-)

[Guest]

That is all such BS. My Saturn ION not hybrid is so dang silent I can never tell if it's running.

Most cars today are that way untill the electric fan kicks on.

Oh I get 30-33 mpg in that pig.

[DickWilson]

As usual, the politicians act first without any idea what they're really doing. Must be because its SSSOOO dark up there.

dick wilson

[Kelena]

How about legislation directed at driver's who don't look where they are going as they drive at excessive speeds? I always tell my boyfriend, drive like a granny.

[StillHope]

Then you have to be driving like a grandpa,Glen?)):

[Guest]

Here we go again... Another article posted by a "Health Conscious" group stating that Hybrids are bad for Blind people.

Still no blind people have been hit! []

...Last week, the U.S. Federal Highway Traffic Safety Administration held its first public meeting on the issue.

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Rally For the Plan

[mgeary]

I saw a similar article in the local paper. Apparently, even internal combustion vehicles are getting so quiet that there was little difference in noise generation between them and a hybrid in a recent study. I don't have the citation. I can find it if anyone is interested.

Still a dumb idea to me to regulate a problem that doesn't exist. Until somebody can demonstrate that blind pedestrians are being injured and/or killed disproportionately due to quiet vehicles, I don't know how somebody can claim that there's a problem. Just because I imagine that there's a problem doesn't mean that the problem actually exists.

Aloha! ;-)