Honk if You're a Hybrid
I’ve been researching the best new hybrids to buy, the SUVs with cargo space for lugging sporting equipment and furniture for clients versus the smaller, more practical Prius, the symbol of a Gore generation of fuel-conscious consumers.
But I have to say, I’ve been thrown by the latest safety risk I read about. It wasn’t about the performance of the cars but rather the fact that blind pedestrians cannot hear the gas-electric motors on the road.
When you rely on your ears to determine whether it’s safe to cross the intersection, the hybrids pose a terrible threat. According to the Associated Press, hybrid tests were conducted involving people standing in parking lots or on sidewalks who were told to signal when they heard different hybrid models drive by. "I couldn’t hear it," reported Deborah Kent Stein, chairwoman of the National Federation of the Blind’s Committee on Automotive and Pedestrian Safety. She shared that the other subjects participating in the test asked when the test was going to begin after a vehicle had made several laps around the parking lot. They also never heard a peep.
A spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales USA said one of the benefits of the Prius is that it doesn’t create noise pollution but even so, manufacturers are studying the issue, prompted by groups like the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind. Advocates are seeking some kind of balance, for example, a minimum noise standard level while a car is running solely on electricity.
All this brought to mind a prayer book chapter I read recently while on a Torah study retreat with my daughter in the mountains of West Marin. It said that part of the path of being a good person (I paraphrase, now) is not putting stumbling blocks in the way of the blind. I hope that in our efforts to save the planet, we aren’t doing just that.
Source: CNN
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7 Comments
June 9th, 2008 at 10:42 am
They’re a good effort, but they’re not the be-all/end-all. Another debit is that in an accident, they can discharge toxic waste (i.e. acid) from the battery, if it gets broken up. Rescue techs do not like doing accident recovery because of that issue. As to mileage, there are small (not suv size) gas-only cars that will equal the effiency of a hybrid.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
That’s so interesting about hybrids not making any noise. I would always have thought that to be a GOOD thing. As a cyclist, I can hear how horribly loud cars out (drowning out the birds and crickets), but I never even considered that silent cars would be a danger to the blind. Interesting issue.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:36 am
Is this article serious?!
In the UK, we’ve had electric milk delivery vehicles for years, and I have never heard one blind person complain about them.
If you’re that worried about accidents – don’t drive a car at all. Especially not an SUV, as those things are proven to kill and injure more people than any car (quiet or not) with a regular shape.
On a weirder note, I hear that this issue is being addressed in Japan by a speaker mounted on the front of a car that emits the clip-clip of horses hooves. I can kinda see where they’re coming from.
June 10th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Great comments everyone. Hi, Rachel – interesting about the horse sounds. Do you happen to remember the link?
June 12th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Here’s the link:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/0.....-warnings/
June 13th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I own a 2007 Prius and there is noise when it’s in electric mode – it’s a slight “wurring” noise – it just gets drowned out by the noise of all the gas engines!! Honestly one of the best things about the car (other than the fantastic mileage with gas today at $4.59 a gallon!) is the reduced noise. I’m not unsympathetic to the dilemia for the blind but I think if we as drivers do our job and watch for pedestrians there shouldn’t be a need to make cars noiser. BTW David my car gets 50 mpg with mostly freeway driving – I don’t think you can find that even in the smallest of cars….
July 9th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I’m not going to lie… I never really thought of the stealth feature being a danger to the blind. However, with all of this crazy technology we have now a days… I’m sure they can think of some sort of feature, like a soft, but audible beep to alert deaf pedestrians of potential danger.
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