Hybrids vs. pedestrians

Efforts to protect pedestrians by turning up the volume on quiet-running electric and hybrid vehicles are picking up speed in California and elsewhere.

The folks up in Sacramento have sent a bill to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that (in classic bureaucratic fashion) directs the California Energy Commission to set up a committee to study the issue and report back in one year with recommendations on what, if anything, to do about it.

What’s the beef?

As hybrid and electric vehicles become more numerous — more than 350,000 now cruise California roads — concerns are growing that the blissful silence of the vehicles’ electric motors poses a genuine threat to pedestrians, especially the blind. (See earlier story here.)

Although there apparently are no reported cases of a pedestrian being killed after walking in front of a silent-running hybrid, near misses and minor scrapes are becoming more frequent. According to a story going around Sacto, an unsuspecting Assembly staffer was almost clipped by a hybrid while walking through Capitol parking garage.

Such incidents have led to proposals for adding external noisemaking devices to hybrids so they would alert the blind and just-plain-inattentive pedestrians to their presence. Companies are working on a range of solutions, such as Lotus’ idea to install a waterproof speaker on the front of the car that would project realistic-sounding engine noise.

“There’s been a movement to make vehicles quieter, but we can be victims of our own virtue,” Carrie Cornwell, chief consultant to the Senate House and Transportation Committee. “That could be the case with automobiles if they get too quiet.”

Suggestions to “bell the hybrid” have been met with derision by some (though by no means all) hybrid owners. As one poster at website GreenHybrid put it recently: “Asking tens of thousands of hybrid owners to add noisemakers is burdensome.”

Some environmentalists have even groused that carping about silent running could slow the spread of hybrid vehicles, which are prized for their high gas mileage and low emissions.

“We are in total support of these types of vehicles,” reassures Dan Kysor, who lobbies the Legislature on behalf of the California Council of the Blind. “We just want to mitigate the possible pedestrian safety hazards.”

Kysor, who is blind and gets around with the help of a guide dog, said he’s had several close encounters with hybrids. They’re particularly dangerous when sitting at idle, he said, because the gasoline engine shuts down completely.

“I can sense there’s a big object nearby, but because it’s not making any noise, I can’t tell what it is,” he said.

Kysor said his group wasn't seeking to mandate anything to automakers. It justs want the state to study the issue. Kysor also said there were options besides adding obnoxious honking or beeping noises. One he heard of that’s being used in Japan — where the current generation of hybrids originated — is a sound system that reproduces the gentle “clip clop” of a horse’s hooves, speeding up or slowing down to match the speed of the car.

Cornwell said no matter what happens, it’s unlikely that the state would require noisemakers to be retrofitted to vehicles already on the road.

Schwarzenegger reportedly hasn’t taken a position on the California bill by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, a Long Beach Democrat. The committee that the bill would create would include reps from the auto and insurance industries, law enforcement and advocates for the blind. Hybrid owners wouldn’t have a seat at the table.

Other states are also studying the issue, and there are rumblings on the federal level as well. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration held hearings in June, and regulation could be forthcoming.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Photo: GuideDogs.com

Comments

[Bob Wilson]

Since Federal House Bill HR 5734 does the same thing, call the Governor and ask him to veto SB 1174, the California bill that is a redundant, waste of California tax payer money.

[Jeff Schmidt]

All these 'solutions' for a non-problem makes me wonder...

If something like this should pass, whether in CA or DC, what will the streets and highways sound like when there are 100s or 1000s of hybrids/electric vehicles in one small area (ie. leaving a sporting event, gridlock)????

Jeff.

[Molly]

Have you ever tried to sort out traffic in preparation to cross a street? Try it sometime. Use your auditory cues to know when it is your turn to cross especially with the wind blowing or with the rain falling. The wind and rain typically do not cover most traffic noises, but a hybrid is another story.

Auditory cues are the most common means of deciding when to cross a street for visually impaired travelers.

On the other end of the spectrum can we make diesel engines quieter. It is not uncommon for them to block all the other auditory cues and prevent the ability to cross the street too.

Can we add a light noise maker that kicks in only when the gas engine goes off and electric kicks on.

[Bob Wilson]

The driver has control of the steering, brake and accelerator and no noise generator will ever help the driver detect pre-school children or other pedestrians at risk. The only time noise is needed is to alert everyone, driver, pedestrian and by-standers that there is a traffic situation developing. Ordinary traffic is already a cacaphoney, a deadly cacaphoney.

Noise alone already kills 5 blind each year and today's traffic already confuses them, crushes their canes and generally shows the inadequacy. The blind continue to be confounded by traffic noise and "Bell the Hybrid" continues the same deadly toll ... the rut to the graveyard.

[Cindy]

I have several friends who are blind, and watching them try to determine when it is safe to cross the street is harrowing. They must stand on the sidewalk, with their toes on the edge of the curb (inches from passing traffic), listening to the traffic flow. If they have a guide dog, the blind person is still the one to determine when it is time to cross the street--not the dog.

As Molly said, it's difficult to hear traffic over wind and rain, or to hear over the sound of a rumbling diesel engine. Moving Prius cars, as well as ones standing still, waiting for the light to change, are virtually impossible to detect over the sound of other vehicles and talking pedestrians nearby.

Please, folks. Have some compassion for the blind and keep an open mind about making the Prius an even better vehicle than it already is. Ask the manufacturers to add a sound generator to their silent-running cars.

[Bob Wilson]

A placebo is not compassion and the legislated noise makers are as useless as commanding the tide to stop. Pedestrian safety needs real engineering and as Cindy points out, the blind are already flumuxed by the sounds ranging from diesel trucks and motorcycles down to luxury automobiles. Mandating noise makers is not the solution.

Seriously, contact the Governor's office and let him know SB 1174 is a bad bill (worse, the title is deliberately misleading so no one would notice the fraud.) At the same time, contact your US House Representatives and let them know HR 5734 is just as flawed.

I would recommend checking the facts and data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hearing record, which is available at www.regulations.gov - search NHTSA-2008-0108-0020 for the facts and data.

It is long since past time to pay attention to the science, the facts and data, and move away from pandering, giving a placebo to the blind, about 0.2% of the pedestrian population. This well meaning but terribly flawed legislation only ensures that the last thing they might hear is the legislated, faux noise maker that did nothing to help the driver avoid the accident in the first place.

[Bob Wilson]

The governor of California:

BILL NUMBER: SB 1174
VETOED DATE: 09/30/2008

To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning Senate Bill 1174 without my signature.

Although I recognize the challenges that the blind and visually
impaired must overcome when interacting with the motoring public,
this bill attempts to solve a national traffic safety problem though
the California Energy Commission.

Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the
Society of Automotive Engineers International, and the automotive
industry are collaborating on research to address this problem.
Since the State of California has no authority over vehicle design,
except for purposes of controlling air pollution emissions, and there
is value in creating conforming standards throughout the nation,
this issue should be handled at the federal level.

For these reasons, I am returning this bill without my signature.

Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_1151-1200/sb_1174_vt_20080930.html