Blind advocates lobby for noisier hybrid cars
Members of the National Federation of the Blind leave a hearing in Maryland's capital, where leaders lobbied for legislation aimed at addressing the perils of near-silent hybrid cars to blind pedestrians.
(Credit: Anne Broache/CNET News.com)ANNAPOLIS, Md.--Hybrid cars may be on every environmentalist-cum-trend setter's hot list, but their surging popularity is raising alarms among the blind and their advocates, who fear the near-silent vehicles could endanger lives.
In recent months, the National Federation of the Blind has launched what is becoming an international lobbying campaign for legislation that encourages--or flat-out requires--automakers to install noisemaking technology to address those potential perils.
Top NFB leaders focused their efforts Tuesday on this quaint state capital on the Chesapeake Bay, where legislation creating a state "Quiet Vehicles and Pedestrian Safety Task Force" is pending. If Maryland passes the bill, it would be the first in the nation to take action on that front, although other states are considering similar proposals.
"As we increase the number of quiet vehicles on our streets, we increase the risk that blind and other pedestrians face," Jim McCarthy, the National Federation of the Blind's director of government affairs, told members of the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee at a hearing about the bill. "We potentially lose our independence if these become ubiquitous."
Ideally, blind advocates would like to see states pass laws that would set minimum sound standards for hybrid and electric vehicles, but they've run into resistance from automakers on that front. McCarthy said his group views the Democratic-sponsored Maryland bill as a good "first step," although he noted that legislatures in Virginia and Hawaii are poised to consider bills that would go further.
The Maryland state bill, which also has a counterpart in the state House of Representatives, would not set any particular rules for cars bought and sold in the state. But, if passed, it would instruct a task force to make recommendations by the end of the year on "a minimum sound level and the nature and characteristics of the minimum sound to be required for all vehicles sold and licensed in the state."
The blind community is also taking its push to Congress--and abroad. On Tuesday, the NFB president was in Geneva, Switzerland, testifying about the dangers of hybrid vehicles to the blind at the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, a United Nations body, according to NFB spokesman Chris Danielsen.
McCarthy and other NFB leaders sought to dispel any accusation that they're hostile to environmental progress. They said they're as pleased as anyone else about states like Maryland that have passed laws requiring a certain percentage of vehicles sold in the state by 2011 to produce low emissions.
The trouble, from their perspective, is that the growing number of vehicles that cannot be heard while operating in electric-power mode throws a wrench in a blind person's ability to negotiate street traffic confidently and independently. And, in an effort to win broader support, they're emphasizing that this isn't just a problem for blind people: All pedestrians and bicyclists should be concerned for their safety.
Carmakers, not surprisingly, have bristled at the notion of regulations requiring them to adopt a specific technology in their hugely successful hybrid vehicles. The Maryland bill clearly attempts to blunt some of those gripes by specifying that task force members are not "required" to specify a certain technology that car manufacturers must use to meet recommended noise levels.
No car industry representatives were present at Tuesday's hearing here, but in a letter to the state senate committee, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said it supported the bill, albeit not without reservations.
The trade association--which represents BMW, Ford Motor, General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, and other major carmakers--said it would be pleased to take a seat on the task force but worried the bill puts too much emphasis on noise-generating technology alone.
The car makers encouraged legislators to be open-minded about the range of technologies that could be used to resolve the blind community's concerns and also noted that a committee established within the Society of Automotive Engineers, an industry-sponsored group, is already researching such approaches.
For instance, they pointed to the potential use of a forthcoming wireless warning system that will allow cars to talk to each other and to roadway infrastructure. That system, known as Dedicated Short Range Communications, or DSRC, could be used to warn pedestrians, blind or otherwise, of oncoming cars with "far more specificity, meaning, and context" than a simple noise generator, but the wording of the current Maryland bill seems to preclude the task force from considering that option, the AAM suggested.
It wasn't immediately clear what the bill's chances of passage were. Legislators on the Senate committee had few questions for the bill's advocates and did little to show their leanings. The Maryland Department of Transportation, for its part, said in a statement that it supports the measure because it views quiet vehicles as an "emerging" safety issue that warrants more research. (There was no mention from the various stakeholders of what role that drivers could or should play in ensuring pedestrian safety.)
Michael Gosse, president of the National Federation of Blind of Maryland, said all his group wants is a cost-effective solution based on the sounds that cars are already capable of making.
"I don't know about you," he told the state senate committee, "but I don't want cars going down the street beeping like those little carts do in the airport. I think that would be pretty annoying."
recording of it. How cool!
(Please note. Other forms of rock music are acceptable as well. Just no country or classic [http://Country should come with a revocation of license. Classic should require jail time|http://Country should come with a revocation of license. Classic should require jail time]).
http://bitguru.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/noisier-hybrid-vehicles/
playing cards to hit the wheels like when we were kids.
Sure those people that bolt down alleys are idiots, but it's still a problem when people creep down alleys because then the vehicles make almost no noise you can hear. Yes, I have almost been hit by someone that went slow, but because she honked her horn right before I walked in front of the alley, allowing me just enough time to stop.
So if a law is passed, I hope penelties are servere for removing or disabling a device that is meant to help someone else say safe. After all, acidents happen, even to the most careful. And driving is a privilege not a right, and if you're not going to respect the people who do have the right to be there (pedestrians), then you shouldn't be driving at all.
cater to any minority group's demands. Technology will find a
solution to this issue.
I just hope we can find a better solution that would make every1 happy
I like the idea of a silent signal picked up by receiver that the blind person wears. The blind person will know that there is a car coming without subjecting others to unnecessary noise.
If it's really so important, maybe it makes more sense for the blind person to have a portable radar unit so if something is approaching at a high rate of speed it can deliver a vibratory warning to get the hell out of the street.
catering to your disabilities. No way to take advantage of your
obvious emotional disability springs to mind, but I will continue to
work on it.
this is getting totally out of hand. it's time "the few" took care of themselves, because if you want something done right....
please stop entrust the safety and welfare of the few to the "normal" and make the "special" in charge of their own well being
wireless warning system that will allow cars to talk to each other
and to roadway infrastructure. That system, known as Dedicated
Short Range Communications, or DSRC, could be used to warn
pedestrians, blind or otherwise, of oncoming cars with "far more
specificity, meaning, and context" than a simple noise generator,
but the wording of the current Maryland bill seems to preclude
the task force from considering that option, the AAM
suggested."
It's an almost ideal solution and they aren't allowed to consider
it. I'm sorry but that has got to be the stupidest thing I've heard.
If the wording of the bill is that screwed up, it need to be
rewritten and if the powers that be are that hidebound that they
can't improve upon the situation badly written bill or not they
need to be replaced.
We need to leave pedestrian rights alone, and put the cost of the convience of driving on the car makers and drivers.
Tell you what, we'll hold pedestrians responsible for using common sense when walking on the roads and drivers responsible for using common sense when driving on sidewalks. Deal?
If we need the quieter hybrids to make more noise, we simply establish a safety requiremet that all vehicles make some minimum amount of noise of a certain type and quality. This certainly would help the blind, the young, the infirmed and the unobservant identify oncoming traffic. Though it would do nothing for the deaf - which may be discriminatory! But then, they are not complaining about the lack of noise from ANY vehicle as being a safety concern. Probably because they have learned to pay attention to their environment, as the seeing and seeing-eye-dog-aided should also be doing.
But, if we pass a minimum sound requirement, there should be a corresponding maximum sound requirement. This may not apply to the hybrids, but it should apply to all vehicles - and not just cars, to which maximum sound limits are presently - well - limited. That is why a motorcycles can - and do - make noise levels that are in excess of hearing-safe decible levels.
But, we only have to listen for the boom-boom, thump-thump, trunk-deck-and-license-plate-rattle of an automotive sound system that rivals those of the local dance club to be reminded that even when there are maximum sound level laws, that they are very difficult to enforce - and therefore commonly ignored.
As for revoking the driving priviledges of those who think this is a dumb idea; well that is about as idiupid as putting ginormous in Webster's Dictionary!
Ignoring the improper pronoun usage, if the person carrying the noise-making device hits the person who should have known that the person carrying the noise-making device was coming then the person carrying the noise-making device will be held responsible by the general rule that everyone is required to exercise reasonable care in all that they do, such as perambulating and motoring. [http://That's walking and driving - for all the deaf, dumb and blind kids, who sure play a mean pinball.|http://That's walking and driving - for all the deaf, dumb and blind kids, who sure play a mean pinball.] A perons who hits another must have done so on purpose or by accident. If on purpose, the person doing the hitting is liable for any harm caused. If by accident, the person doing the hitting is liable under the laws of negligence for any harm caused.
Let us not mix our metaphores, poorly place our pronouns, or rewrite existing laws to accommodate non-existent ones!
Driving down the street,
Just trying to be friendly,
To the blind I meet.
Hey hey I'm a hybrid..
ads on vehicles, but soon we will be able to put flat screen TVs on
our car doors and grills and start making money on all that new ad
space, while we help the less fortunate!
It's a win-win!
End irony zone.
Maybe we should add flashing lights for the hearing impaired?
I truly understand their concerns, but the approach is all wrong.
Noise pollution is big deal as well.
Other thoughts: http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/D772ABE7-B00C-4145-8806-7831D097002D/
1. Prius manufacturing will be turned over to Harley Davidson for exaust modifications.
2. Drivers license tests will be administered in brail for the seeing impared.
3. All new cars will be painted florescent to make them more visible for the hearing impared.
4. Combine the first 3 into a limited edition empty Bu115#1t campaign promise for either the democrats or republicans to spew onto the public while doing backdoor deals for $$$.
And to another poster's comments, I agree- people who put fart-pipes on their cars to compensate for their weak honda-weedwhacker-engines are the biggest losers on the road!
Ever hear of a spell-checker or a dictionary?
- Tires and whoosh still audible...
- by ThePoke February 21, 2008 12:15 AM PST
- I've nearly been hit by hybrid cars & electric buses, but now know to listen for the whoosh, whir & tire noise as opposed to just the engine... they aren't totally noiseless.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (64 Comments)I have hearing loss and can hear them... so I know a blind person with much more acute hearing can hear this....
We should PROVE there is a problem... before creating one. I really prefer the quieter cars...