"Bell the Hybrid" - 111th Congress

[bwilson4web]

Hi,

The current efforts to legislate noise makers on hybrids are H.R. 734 and S. 841. Both bills are flawed because they legislate one one solution:

"SEC. 3. Findings.

(8) ... require that vehicles emit a minimum level of sound designed to alert ll pedestrians, especially bind pedestrians, to the presence of such vehicles."

If they were changed to:

"SEC. 3. Findings.

(8) ... require that vehicles use any technical system that may include emitting a minimum level of sound designed to alert ll pedestrians, especially bind pedestrians, to the presence of such vehicles and reduce all accidents."

It would fix the legislation so it would address the real problem, pedestrian and accident deaths, and uses the full might or our intellect and skills. But sound has been tried for 100 years and continues to fail.

There are more more errors in these bills but the "Finding" are what directs the allowed solution. However, the inflated claims in the bills and by their advocates leave them vulnerable to the facts and data ... the truth. That is the most powerful argument of all ... if we share it.

The most frequent and inflated claim is our hybrids are deadly but the facts and data show otherwise:

Prius Fatalities 2001-2007

The goal is to take any claims of "deadly" and "fatal" away from the honorable competition. What would help would be to make sure this URL is shared with reporters or their editors who try to claim our hybrid cars are 'deadly' or 'fatal' to pedestrians. I have no problem with the advocates making fact based claims but any words claiming "fatal" or "deadly" need to be corrected. There is no evidence of elevated fatalities or deaths associated with our Prius, 2/3ds of all hybrids on the road.

An approach would be to make sure this URL shows up in as many web pages, blogs and web-based comments as possible. This increases the Google ranking ... increasing the probability of a Google hit on a search. Google can be 'our friend.'

I don't look forward to this by any stretch of the imagination. I would rather take instruments to our Prius, soldering iron and boards. Product improvement is a heck of a lot more interesting but in this case, our Congress, our representatives, are about to legislate a mistake and legislate a placebo.

Since their invention, automobiles have made noise and killed pedestrians. We have run this experiment for over 100 years and the results are the same. Adding noise makers to cars is running the same, deadly experiment and expecting a different result ... it is insanity to legislate the same experiment and expect a different result.

This legislation could bring new technology, accident avoidance systems, and take a bite out of both pedestrian deaths, 4,200 per year, and car-to-car accidents. That is the direction legislation needs to go ... not legislating the same more noise that has failed so many dead pedestrians for the past 100 years and continues to fail today.

Bob Wilson

ps. Christopher Hogan did the initial analysis in 2008 for which we owe a great debt of gratitude. I'm not trying to stand in his shoes as much as take some of the heat ... someone has to do it. It is my hope he may post his 2008 report with a URL ... misery loves company.

[asj2009]

It's called being courteous of pedestrians, and pedestrians being wary in parking lots. Small car noises won't help if the driver's being an a**

These legislators should stop simply reacting and actually RTF technical reports.

I'll be sure to add that URL to some of the websites I administer....

[radioprius1]

Originally Posted by asj2009

It's called being courteous of pedestrians, and pedestrians being wary in parking lots. Small car noises won't help if the driver's being an a**

These legislators should stop simply reacting and actually RTF technical reports.

I'll be sure to add that URL to some of the websites I administer....

I agree. Don't modify my vehicle because other people aren't looking out for vehicles or are too busy text messaging. Also if there's a fear of blind people being hit, just chain the blind up in a big group hospital and don't let them out walking (kidding David)

[fuzzy1]

What's the big deal? Here in Washington State, 'accidentally' killing a pedestrian or bicyclist is a fairly minor traffic infraction, no big deal. A simple drunk driving stop, without injury or property damage, is far far more serious.

Because of some very infuriating tragedies with essentially no consequences, the local bicycle club is turning this into a hot issue.

[bwilson4web]

And a 'land shark' chimes in:

New York Personal Injury Lawyer Warns Pedestrians To Watch For Quieter Hybrid Vehicles

New York Personal Injury Lawyer Warns Pedestrians To Watch For Quieter Hybrid Vehicles

Attorneys Steven J. Schwartzapfel says a new study should spur auto manufacturers to increase safety of hybrid vehicles for pedestrians and bicyclists.
. . .
The study found that "(hybrid electric vehicles) have a higher incidence rate of pedestrian and bicyclist crashes than do (internal combustion engine) vehicles in certain vehicle maneuvers. These results should serve as a guide when designing future HEVs pedestrian and bicyclist crash prevention programs."

Said Schwartzapfel, "In light of this report, hybrid manufacturers and drivers are now on notice that they need to take steps to make sure their cars are seen and heard by cyclists and pedestrians. They may be held accountable for injuries when they fail to take those steps."
. . .

Ambulance chasers, start your engines.

Bob Wilson

[fuzzy1]

And a 'land shark' chimes in:

New York Personal Injury Lawyer Warns Pedestrians To Watch For Quieter Hybrid Vehicles

Ambulance chasers, start your engines. ...

Based on local experience, our hybrids will need to be LOUDER than freight train horns in order to be heard by some teenagers gabbing on cell phones or listening to portable music players. And these freight trains are already banned from using their LOUD horns inside some city limits.

[RonH]

The NHTSA is here: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811204.PDF
Basically, they sliced and diced the state accident data and found some subsets with statistically significant differences at the 95% level. Kinda low to go off the deep end. The report even recommended getting more data before panicking. But we're talking journalists and lawyers here.

[jdcollins5]

I totally agree. I was making a left turn at a very busy intersection with double turn lanes. A college student walked out of a McDonalds with his stereo head set on and began walking across the intersection cross walk. There were at least six or eight cars turning left. We all had to wait in the middle of the intersection for this idiot to finally get out of the cross walk. These were cars, trucks, SUV's plus my Prius. What kind of sound device is needed for this situation ?

[bighouse]

I think someone should introduce a bill to help end NOISE pollution, requiring ICE engines to be muffled to the point of total silence.

Seems like a DUMB idea to try to bell a Prius and doesn't really get to the root of any accidents. Why can't we just train the youth and remind the rest of us something my momma told me when I was 4 or 5... "LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE YOU CROSS THE STREET!"

[SlowTurd]

how about a bill to prevent pedestrians from looking down, talking on their cell phones, and texting while walking?