Blind People Upset With Hybrids
10-03-07, 08:09 AM
#1
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Blind People Upset With Hybrids
Blind People Upset With Hybrids
Gas friendly electric hybrid cars are under fire from at least one group of people. The National Federation of the Blind believes the cars to be too silent, and a possible threat to the safety of the visually impaired.
"I'm used to being able to get sound cues from my environment and negotiate accordingly," said Deborah Kent Stein, the NFB's chair of their Committee on Automotive and Pedestrian Safety. In an interview with the Associated Press she says that, much to her surprise, she simply has no clue when a hybrid car, running at slow speeds, is approaching.
"We did a test, and I discovered, to my great dismay, that I couldn't hear it."
Hybrids are nearly silent when running on electric power, something the NFB says is incredibly hazardous. But with gas prices steadily rising, hybrid cars are becoming more popular. Year-to-year hybrid sales are up nearly 50% from 2006.
The committee conducted several unscientific tests, with visually impaired people instructed to signal when they were passed by a hybrid while standing in parking lots. The results were revealing.
"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," according to Stein.
A leading advocacy group for nearly 1.3 million blind people in the United States, the NFB is also quick to point out the virtues of hybrid cars as well. The suggestion is that they simply make a little bit of noise.
In response to a threat from an environmentalist who suggested that NFB President Marc Maurer die in a flood caused by global warming, Maurer said, "I don't want to pick that way of going, but I don't want to get run over by a quiet car, either."
The Association of International Auto Manufacturers Inc., an industry trade group, is examining the issue. They, along with the Society of Automotive Engineers, are looining into setting a standard minimum noise level for the vehicles.
Toyota is also looking at the issue, according to Bill Kwong of Toyota Motor Sales USA. However, as Kwong pointed out to the AP, "One of the many benefits of the Prius, besides excellent fuel economy and low emissions, is quiet performance."
Obviously, Toyota does not want to get hit with a lawsuit should a legally blind person get struck by one of their vehicles.
"We are studying the issue and trying to find that delicate balance," Kwong said.
Quiet hybrids are not just threatening to the visually impaired. 57-year-old Linda Murphy has 20/20 vision with glasses on, but that has not stopped her from nearly being struck twice by gas-electric hybrids.
"I'm walking right in back of it and it's moving and I didn't realize it until it nearly touched me,'' she told one reporter. "I never realized how dependent I was on my ears until I almost got hit."
Gas friendly electric hybrid cars are under fire from at least one group of people. The National Federation of the Blind believes the cars to be too silent, and a possible threat to the safety of the visually impaired.
"I'm used to being able to get sound cues from my environment and negotiate accordingly," said Deborah Kent Stein, the NFB's chair of their Committee on Automotive and Pedestrian Safety. In an interview with the Associated Press she says that, much to her surprise, she simply has no clue when a hybrid car, running at slow speeds, is approaching.
"We did a test, and I discovered, to my great dismay, that I couldn't hear it."
Hybrids are nearly silent when running on electric power, something the NFB says is incredibly hazardous. But with gas prices steadily rising, hybrid cars are becoming more popular. Year-to-year hybrid sales are up nearly 50% from 2006.
The committee conducted several unscientific tests, with visually impaired people instructed to signal when they were passed by a hybrid while standing in parking lots. The results were revealing.
"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," according to Stein.
A leading advocacy group for nearly 1.3 million blind people in the United States, the NFB is also quick to point out the virtues of hybrid cars as well. The suggestion is that they simply make a little bit of noise.
In response to a threat from an environmentalist who suggested that NFB President Marc Maurer die in a flood caused by global warming, Maurer said, "I don't want to pick that way of going, but I don't want to get run over by a quiet car, either."
The Association of International Auto Manufacturers Inc., an industry trade group, is examining the issue. They, along with the Society of Automotive Engineers, are looining into setting a standard minimum noise level for the vehicles.
Toyota is also looking at the issue, according to Bill Kwong of Toyota Motor Sales USA. However, as Kwong pointed out to the AP, "One of the many benefits of the Prius, besides excellent fuel economy and low emissions, is quiet performance."
Obviously, Toyota does not want to get hit with a lawsuit should a legally blind person get struck by one of their vehicles.
"We are studying the issue and trying to find that delicate balance," Kwong said.
Quiet hybrids are not just threatening to the visually impaired. 57-year-old Linda Murphy has 20/20 vision with glasses on, but that has not stopped her from nearly being struck twice by gas-electric hybrids.
"I'm walking right in back of it and it's moving and I didn't realize it until it nearly touched me,'' she told one reporter. "I never realized how dependent I was on my ears until I almost got hit."
10-03-07, 08:13 AM
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I thought blind people had better hearing.
Seriously though, its not like they are completely silent. I entertained this complaint before and then expirienced it myself and found that hybrids do still make noises. Our RX whizzes and wines and of course you can still hear the vehicle plunging forward through the air.
Seriously though, its not like they are completely silent. I entertained this complaint before and then expirienced it myself and found that hybrids do still make noises. Our RX whizzes and wines and of course you can still hear the vehicle plunging forward through the air.
10-03-07, 08:28 AM
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10-03-07, 10:38 AM
#7
oh well, I guess we gotta install those fart cans and rice up the Prius, then maybe they'll hear it... not!
And I thought visually-impaired people have a heightened sense of hearing because they rely on it a lot. They should be able to pick up the small whirl of the electric motor. Also, tyres make noise on the road. Yeah it might be difficult if there's other noise like construction but in that case, even a normal car might be hard to hear anyway.
And I thought visually-impaired people have a heightened sense of hearing because they rely on it a lot. They should be able to pick up the small whirl of the electric motor. Also, tyres make noise on the road. Yeah it might be difficult if there's other noise like construction but in that case, even a normal car might be hard to hear anyway.
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10-03-07, 11:31 AM
#13
Lexus Test Driver
haha i didnt mean Deaf and Blind as a combo. reread it and you'll get it haha. the deaf would see the headlights and the blind would hear the car.
btw, what do you hear if you rev a hybrid?! must sound like a supercharger whine. or a wind-up car hahahahahah
btw, what do you hear if you rev a hybrid?! must sound like a supercharger whine. or a wind-up car hahahahahah
10-03-07, 11:43 AM
#15
Out of Warranty
I can understand the problem. I was standing in the service drive at my dealership a couple of months ago waiting for my car after closing. I never heard the parade of RX400h loaners being brought in from the parking lot for the night, I was looking the other way and was nearly run down by four or five of the hybrids. I executed a rather nice Veronica pass on the first one and leapt to the curb by the time the second arrived.
I'm not blind yet, but was not expecting a line of cars to come in after closing. I can see that hybrid drivers really need to keep an eye out for pedestrians.
I'm not blind yet, but was not expecting a line of cars to come in after closing. I can see that hybrid drivers really need to keep an eye out for pedestrians.