Blind People Protest - Hybrid Cars Are Too Quiet

Same problem has always existed, even for sighted people, with goddam
bicyclists. Noisemakers should be on hybrid cars and bikes too.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci...nclick_check=1

Blind people say quiet hybrid cars pose safety risk
Associated Press
Article Launched: 10/02/2007 11:56:29 PM PDT

BALTIMORE - 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."

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.

(snip)

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."

The problem isn't that the cars are too quiet, or that people rely on the
noise to jump out of the way. It's that for some reason, some drivers (or
even some bicyclists) are expecting pedestrians to get out of their way.
Drivers shouldn't be backing up when there are pedestrians walking behind
them whether they are in environmentally friendly vehicles or not. Drivers
and cyclists shouldn't be buzzing pedestrians.

Now I do understand some of the blind people protest, in that there are many
intersections with signals that do not have the sound to signal when the
walk sign is activated. I helped one blind man cross our big intersection
one quiet Sunday morning because there were no cars, so he didn't hear
anything, so he wasn't sure when the light was green. Audio signals would
help.

On Oct 7, 9:27 am, "Cathy Kearns" wrote:
The problem isn't that the cars are too quiet, or that people rely on the
noise to jump out of the way. It's that for some reason, some drivers (or
even some bicyclists) are expecting pedestrians to get out of their way.

That's part of it, to be sure. People in cars or on bikes want to
push around the walkers. It's like the so-called work boat rule you
see on water - The bigger boat has the right of way.

Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS wrote:
Same problem has always existed, even for sighted people, with goddam
bicyclists. Noisemakers should be on hybrid cars and bikes too.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci...nclick_check=1

Blind people say quiet hybrid cars pose safety risk
Associated Press
Article Launched: 10/02/2007 11:56:29 PM PDT

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

I own a Prius, and this is a problem when backing up. The car makes NO
noise. It is my responsibility to look -- absolutely my responsibility --
but a little help never hurt anyone and there are small kids in the
neighborhood.

I've looked for the replacement backup lights that make noise, but they
don't seem to be made in the bulb size the Prius uses (yes, even the ones
that say they "fit all cars"). If anyone has found these, please post a
link.

=v= I agree that the overall problem is motorists who refuse to
yield to pedestrians, which has morphed into a streetscape where
pedestrians are largely not taken into account. That's the REAL
problem; addressing anything short of that is foolish.

I own a Prius, and this is a problem when backing up. The car
makes NO noise.

=v= Huh? I thought it made a beeping sound and there were
self-satisfied geeks bragging that they figured out how to hack
it to turn the sound off. Or is that another model?
_Jym_

Jym Dyer wrote:
=v= I agree that the overall problem is motorists who refuse to
yield to pedestrians, which has morphed into a streetscape where
pedestrians are largely not taken into account. That's the REAL
problem; addressing anything short of that is foolish.

I own a Prius, and this is a problem when backing up. The car
makes NO noise.

=v= Huh? I thought it made a beeping sound and there were
self-satisfied geeks bragging that they figured out how to hack
it to turn the sound off. Or is that another model?
_Jym_

The beeping sound in reverse is audible to the driver inside the car but is
NOT audible outside the car (at least on my 2006).

On Oct 7, 11:35 am, "Mike Kruger" wrote:
Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS wrote: Same problem has always existed, even for sighted people, with goddam
bicyclists. Noisemakers should be on hybrid cars and bikes too.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci...nclick_check=1

Blind people say quiet hybrid cars pose safety risk
Associated Press
Article Launched: 10/02/2007 11:56:29 PM PDT

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

I own a Prius, and this is a problem when backing up. The car makes NO
noise. It is my responsibility to look -- absolutely my responsibility --
but a little help never hurt anyone and there are small kids in the
neighborhood.

I've looked for the replacement backup lights that make noise, but they
don't seem to be made in the bulb size the Prius uses (yes, even the ones
that say they "fit all cars"). If anyone has found these, please post a
link.

http://tinyurl.com/3c559v

Read the comment. :-D

landotter wrote:
On Oct 7, 11:35 am, "Mike Kruger" wrote:
Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS wrote: Same problem has
always existed, even for sighted people, with goddam
bicyclists. Noisemakers should be on hybrid cars and bikes too.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci...nclick_check=1

Blind people say quiet hybrid cars pose safety risk
Associated Press
Article Launched: 10/02/2007 11:56:29 PM PDT

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

I own a Prius, and this is a problem when backing up. The car makes
NO
noise. It is my responsibility to look -- absolutely my
responsibility --
but a little help never hurt anyone and there are small kids in the
neighborhood.

I've looked for the replacement backup lights that make noise, but
they
don't seem to be made in the bulb size the Prius uses (yes, even the
ones
that say they "fit all cars"). If anyone has found these, please
post a
link.

http://tinyurl.com/3c559v

Read the comment. :-D

Thanks for calling my attention to the comment!!

But there's a link to a more standard back-up alarm that I'll investigate. I
was looking for simple (replacement backup bulb that beeps), but maybe the
one-wire connection wouldn't be so hard.
http://tinyurl.com/2em8d6

"Mike Kruger" wrote in message
t...
I've looked for the replacement backup lights that make noise, but they
don't seem to be made in the bulb size the Prius uses (yes, even the ones
that say they "fit all cars"). If anyone has found these, please post a
link.

I got an email about this item the other day:

http://www.safetybeep.com/

It sticks on the backup light, and when the light is on, it beeps. No idea
if it works or not, or how well.

-=- Tom

Jym Dyer wrote:
=v= I agree that the overall problem is motorists who refuse to
yield to pedestrians, which has morphed into a streetscape where
pedestrians are largely not taken into account. That's the REAL
problem; addressing anything short of that is foolish.


Morning commutes around here, pedestrians wearing dark clothing (nearly
impossible to see) will just walk right out in front of you because the
law says they have the right-of-way. Seems to me that the law is
backwards. It's certainly a LOT easier for a pedestrian to see a
lighted vehicle than for a a driver to see an unlit (in dark clothing
no-less!) pedestrian!