Timing - "Bell the Hybrid" march kicks-off

[bwilson4web]

Over One Thousand Blind Americans to March in Detroit

Over One Thousand Blind Americans to March in Detroit

Mayor Dave Bing and Martha Reeves to Participate in March

DETROIT, June 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the oldest and largest organization of the blind in the United States, will hold its third March for Independence on July 6 in Detroit, Michigan. The Motor City March for Independence is a 5K walk held as part of the National Federation of the Blind convention, which will take place in Detroit this year. . . .

Highlights of the march will include addresses by NFB President Dr. Marc Maurer and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing. Congressman John Dingell is serving as an honorary co-chair of the event. Motown singer and current Detroit Councilwoman Martha Reeves, also serving as an honorary co-chair of the event, will perform live as part of the rally. The Honorable Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, will also address the rally. Following the march and rally, the participants will return to the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, where President Maurer will sound his gavel to bring the convention to order for its opening session. . . .

The reason McCurdy is important is during the April hearings on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration programs, he was the only speaker to advocate for noise makers on hybrid electric cars. Having the National Federation of the Blind convention in Detroit is tailor made to release a huge amount of misleading press releases. These in turn will 'echo' through the media. So it makes sense to review the facts and data and have your sources ready:

• On average, 4,700 pedestrians die each year, 5 are blind, and since 2001-2006, no blind has died in a Prius accident, yet.
• The Prius has the same pedestrian accident rate as ordinary cars.
• No blind has been killed by a Prius out of the 4,700 pedestrians killed every year.
• There have been only 11 Prius-only, fatal pedestrian accidents in the seven year, 2001-2007 during which 515,000 Prius were sold

Later this week, I'll post a web page with the source material and references ... a fact sheet ... to use when addressing local editors. In the short term, use the material already available at:

www.regulations.gov - search: NHTSA-2008-0108-0020

Recent information: search: NHTSA-2008-0108-0027.1

This is the NHTSA "plan" submitted June 19, 2009 but according to the web sites, comments were due August 1, 2008. Kinda hard to comment on a plan submitted in the future but this plan has more problems. More about this later.

Understand that I'm not sharing the most recent information because we can expect the advocates to do 'opposition research.' There is no advantage to telegraphing the facts and data that refute their claims until the last minute but we have enough already. Use what we've got.

This NFB march looks to kick off their legislative effort to pass H.R. 734 and S. 841 as Congress resumes July 6 for the Senate and July 7 for the House. This weekend is your best opportunity to meet your Congress critters during the July holiday break. Unlike any other, this is the time to meet or attend any 'town hall' or other events during the July recess.

Now if your congress critter is on this list, they have already signed up as a 'co-sponsor.' That means you'll need to use skill but don't ignore your own representatives:

Senate Members:
Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D-MD]
Sen. Edward Kennedy [D-MA]
Sen. Orrin Hatch [R-UT]
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]
Sen. Barbara Mikulski [D-MD]
Sen. Arlen Specter [D-PA]
Sen. Evan Bayh [D-IN]

House Members:
AK Rep. Donald Young [R-AK]
AR Rep. John Boozman [R-AR3]
AR Rep. Robert Berry [D-AR1]
AZ Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ7]
AZ Rep. Edward Pastor [D-AZ4]
CA Rep. Bob Filner [D-CA51]
CA Rep. Adam Schiff [D-CA29]
CA Rep. Ellen Tauscher [D-CA10]
CA Rep. Linda Sánchez [D-CA39]
CA Rep. Doris Matsui [D-CA5]
CA Rep. Fortney Stark [D-CA13]
CA Rep. Dana Rohrabacher [R-CA46]
CA Rep. Jane Harman [D-CA36]
CA Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA9]
CA Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA35]
CA Rep. Howard Berman [D-CA28]
CA Rep. Lois Capps [D-CA23]
CT Rep. Joe Courtney [D-CT2]
DC Del. Eleanor Norton [D-DC]
FL Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz [D-FL20]
FL Rep. Robert Wexler [D-FL19]
FL Rep. Alcee Hastings [D-FL23]
FL Rep. Clifford Stearns [R-FL6]
FL Rep. Gus Bilirakis [R-FL9]
FL Rep. Ander Crenshaw [R-FL4]
FL Rep. Corrine Brown [D-FL3]
GA Rep. Sanford Bishop [D-GA2]
GA Rep. John Lewis [D-GA5]
GU Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU]
HI Rep. Neil Abercrombie [D-HI1]
HI Rep. Mazie Hirono [D-HI2]
IA Rep. Bruce Braley [D-IA1]
IA Rep. David Loebsack [D-IA2]
IA Rep. Steve King [R-IA5]
IA Rep. Thomas Latham [R-IA4]
IA Rep. Leonard Boswell [D-IA3]
ID Rep. Walter Minnick [D-ID1]
IL Rep. Judy Biggert [R-IL13]
IL Rep. Jesse Jackson [D-IL2]
IL Rep. Daniel Lipinski [D-IL3]
IL Rep. Phil Hare [D-IL17]
IL Rep. Janice Schakowsky [D-IL9]
IL Rep. Danny Davis [D-IL7]
IL Rep. Luis Gutiérrez [D-IL4]
IL Rep. Peter Roskam [R-IL6]
IL Rep. Donald Manzullo [R-IL16]
IN Rep. André Carson [D-IN7]
IN Rep. Brad Ellsworth [D-IN8]
LA Rep. Charles Melancon [D-LA3]
LA Rep. Rodney Alexander [R-LA5]
LA Rep. Anh Cao [R-LA2]
Le Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R-FL18]
MA Rep. Edward Markey [D-MA7]
MA Rep. James McGovern [D-MA3]
MA Rep. John Tierney [D-MA6]
MA Rep. William Delahunt [D-MA10]
MA Rep. Michael Capuano [D-MA8]
MA Rep. Richard Neal [D-MA2]
MD Rep. Christopher Van Hollen [D-MD8]
MD Rep. John Sarbanes [D-MD3]
MD Rep. Elijah Cummings [D-MD7]
MD Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger [D-MD2]
ME Rep. Michael Michaud [D-ME2]
MN Rep. Keith Ellison [D-MN5]
MN Rep. Timothy Walz [D-MN1]
MN Rep. Collin Peterson [D-MN7]
MN Rep. Betty McCollum [D-MN4]
MN Rep. James Oberstar [D-MN8]
MO Rep. Roy Blunt [R-MO7]
MO Rep. Jo Ann Emerson [R-MO8]
MO Rep. Russ Carnahan [D-MO3]
MS Rep. Gene Taylor [D-MS4]
NC Rep. Walter Jones [R-NC3]
NC Rep. Mike McIntyre [D-NC7]
NC Rep. David Price [D-NC4]
ND Rep. Earl Pomeroy [D-ND]
NE Rep. Lee Terry [R-NE2]
NJ Rep. Donald Payne [D-NJ10]
NJ Rep. Steven Rothman [D-NJ9]
NJ Rep. Albio Sires [D-NJ13]
NM Rep. Martin Heinrich [D-NM1]
NV Rep. Dina Titus [D-NV3]
NV Rep. Shelley Berkley [D-NV1]
NY Rep. Jerrold Nadler [D-NY8]
NY Rep. Nita Lowey [D-NY18]
NY Rep. Charles Rangel [D-NY15]
NY Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY14]
NY Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D-NY22]
NY Rep. José Serrano [D-NY16]
OH Rep. Steve Driehaus [D-OH1]
OH Rep. Steven LaTourette [R-OH14]
OH Rep. Timothy Ryan [D-OH17]
OH Rep. Charles Wilson [D-OH6]
OR Rep. David Wu [D-OR1]
OR Rep. Earl Blumenauer [D-OR3]
OR Rep. Peter DeFazio [D-OR4]
PA Rep. Paul Kanjorski [D-PA11]
PA Rep. Glenn Thompson [R-PA5]
PA Rep. Tim Holden [D-PA17]
PA Rep. Christopher Carney [D-PA10]
PA Rep. Kathleen Dahlkemper [D-PA3]
PA Rep. Chaka Fattah [D-PA2]
PA Rep. Robert Brady [D-PA1]
PA Rep. Michael Doyle [D-PA14]
PA Rep. Todd Platts [R-PA19]
Po Rep. Carol Shea-Porter [D-NH1]
PR Res.Com. Pedro Pierluisi [D-PR]
RI Rep. Patrick Kennedy [D-RI1]
SD Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin [D-SD]
TN Rep. Steve Cohen [D-TN9]
TN Rep. Phil Roe [R-TN1]
TX Rep. Peter Sessions [R-TX32]
TX Rep. Raymond Green [D-TX29]
TX Rep. Randy Neugebauer [R-TX19]
UT Rep. Rob Bishop [R-UT1]
VA Rep. Gerald Connolly [D-VA11]
VA Rep. James Moran [D-VA8]
VA Rep. Rob Wittman [R-VA1]
VT Rep. Peter Welch [D-VT]
WA Rep. James McDermott [D-WA7]
WI Rep. Gwen Moore [D-WI4]
WI Rep. Thomas Petri [R-WI6]
WV Rep. Nick Rahall [D-WV3]
WV Rep. Alan Mollohan [D-WV1]

More later,
Bob Wilson

[fuzzy1]

This weekend is your best opportunity to meet your Congress critters during the July holiday break. Unlike any other, this is the time to meet or attend any 'town hall' or other events during the July recess.
...
WA Rep. James McDermott [D-WA7]

[rant]
Unfortunately, redistricting gave me this congresscritter, whose seat is such a safe Democratic seat that he doesn't even campaign, doesn't send out any newsletters, and has no town hall events. I am more likely to meet him in a Third World photo op than in his own district. The only reason the Republicans even file in this district is to prevent the Libertarians and Greens from gaining a second-place finish.
[/rant]

[ksstathead]

Would be cheaper to 'bell the blind.' They wear a device that senses approaching vehicle. Maybe it warns not only the wearer but the approaching driver somehow. I respect the disabled, but we should not rush to the worst, most expensive possible answer to a problem that does not seem to really exist.

[bwilson4web]

Originally Posted by ksstathead

Would be cheaper to 'bell the blind.' They wear a device that senses approaching vehicle. Maybe it warns not only the wearer but the approaching driver somehow. I respect the disabled, but we should not rush to the worst, most expensive possible answer to a problem that does not seem to really exist.

Actually that is very practical since over 90% of all North American cars have a remote keyless entry receiver tuned to the same band. Normally these are 'off' when the car is running but a well defined protocol could be defined that would be the equivalent of the "panic" button and would solve the problem not only for hybrids but the other vehicles that continue to kill blind pedestrians. It doesn't have to be so loud as much as a brief set of 'horn bleeps'.

Bob Wilson

[bwilson4web]

Hi,

Ordinarily I would edit my last posting to include more recent data. However, these don't really fit but provide additional background material:

AFP: Japan may add noise to quiet hybrid cars for safety

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's near-silent hybrid cars have been called dangerous by the vision-impaired and some users, prompting a government review on whether to add a noise-making device, according to an official.

The petrol-electric vehicles, which in recent months have become the country's top-selling autos, hum along almost soundlessly when they are switched from fuel to battery mode.

"We have received opinions from automobile users and vision-impaired people that they feel hybrid vehicles are dangerous," a transport ministry official said.
"Blind people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed" and on the electric motor, he said.

The ministry has launched a panel of scholars, vision-impaired groups, consumers, police and the automobile industry to discuss the matter.

"They decided to consider introducing a sound-making function" in petrol-electric hybrids when the 13-member panel held its first meeting Thursday, the official said.

They have not decided on what kind of sound should be used, only that it should induce a response of caution, he said.

"On the other hand, we should pay attention to residents (along roads) as hybrids are excellent in reducing noise," the official added.

The panel is expected to draw up a report by the end of the year. Its proposal will be discussed at the ministry's committee on automobile safety before it could be drafted into legislation.

There have been a number of repostings that all but claim this is a done deal. But read the last paragraph, this is not even close to a done deal.

Then there is bit from our friends down-under:
Pedestrian safety motion gets nod - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Alice Springs Town Council's motion to improve pedestrian safety has been passed at the national local government conference. The resolution calls on the Federal Government to pass legislation that would ensure manufacturers of hybrid cars make them audible to pedestrians.

Alice Springs alderman Murray Stewart, who is blind, says it is an important development for protecting people with disabilities, as well as children and the elderly.
"When it comes to our vehicles on our roads, silence sometimes can lead to death," he said. . . .

The last bit is on July 1, an 81 year old driving a Prius struck and killed a 97 year old pedestrian:

Man struck and killed in Tonawanda | WIVB.com

The specific location can be found using Google Earth at:

43 00' 04.57" N 78 50' 10.71" W

What is interesting is the police officer cited the light-and-dark shadows under the overpass and made reference to "electronic devices." This is also a description of a cell phone BUT we don't know for sure. Regardless, the photo shows the Prius had just left the four-way, stop sign intersection.

The problem is older pedestrians often suffer the infirmaties of age including poor eye sight and hearing. We do not know if the pedestrian had such problems. Regardless, rest assured the 'honorable competition' will blame the Prius. So have the facts and data ready.

http://www.speakupwny.com/forums/sho...d.php?p=511480

Town police continue to investigate a late Wednesday morning accident that killed a 97-year-old pedestrian who was crossing Parker Boulevard beneath the Interstate 290 overpass.

Alfonsas Sakavicius, 26 Idlewood Drive, Town of Tonawanda, was crossing the street at 11:33 a.m. when he was struck by a vehicle operated by Jean Rohrer, 81, 925 Woodstock Ave., also in the town.

’He was crossing Parker under the overpass, maybe 20 or 30 feet from the stop sign,’ said Assistant Police Chief Jerome C. Uschold.

The stop sign is where Brompton Road and Woodstock intersect with Parker, just north of the overpass. There is no cross walk underneath the 290.

Few details of the accident have been released by town police, but the department reported that Sakavicius died at the scene.

An autopsy was scheduled for today.

Norm and Evelyn Plowe, who have lived in the neighborhood for 45 years, were walking near the accident scene Wednesday evening and said they knew Sakavicius.

’He lived here a long time,’ said Norm, adding Sakavicius moved in after he and his wife had already settled in the area. ’He walked a lot and was in great shape.’

Plowe said Sakavicius was known to walk to a Wilson Farms store on Brighton Road, about a mile from his home.

Sakavicius, Plowe said, had owned apartments in Amherst, near Niagara Falls Boulevard and recalled helping Sakavicius build concrete steps back in the late 1970s.

’He didn’t hear very well,’ Plowe added.

The Plowes said Sakavicius has a wife. Although she didn’t know the family very well, Evelyn said ’they were very nice people.’

Town police say early indications do not point to any criminal charges. The department will consult with the Erie County District Attorney’s office before making a final determination.

Contact night city editor John Hopkins at 693-1000, ext. 150.

So in addition to jay-walking instead of crossing at the intersection, jay-walking through shadows and direct sun-light, he apparently had trouble hearing. A lot of good a noise maker would do for the deaf.

One last news article that our 'honorable competition' will never address but should be challenged:

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...+killed+by+car

Nearly blind pedestrian killed by car

By Carrie Whitaker • cwhitaker@enquirer.com • June 27, 2009

COLERAIN TWP. - Police say a nearly blind man stepped in front of a car being driven by a teen Friday evening and was killed.
Advertisement

The accident occurred at 7560 Colerain Ave., about 10:30 p.m.

Gerald C. Burton, 62, of Cincinnati, did not see the vehicle when he stepped in front of the 1996 Nissan Maxima being driven by a 17-year-old male, according to police. Burton was blind in his right eye and had poor eyesight in his left eye, according to the accident report. . . .

Where is their concern for Gerald C. Burton ... killed by a Nissan Maxima?

Bob Wilson

[bwilson4web]

Finally finished my first cut on Prius fatal accidents per 100 million miles. The reason this is important is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports the annual fatality rate per 100 million miles:

Now I need to refine the numbers but these are close enough to share. One problem I have to rework is fatal accidents are different from fatalities. A preliminary look shows there were 111 fatal accidents and 126 fatalities. Still, these rough numbers reveal:

• statistically significant number of Prius accidents - over the total vehicle history, there have been enough accidents and miles travelled to see that the Prius is safer than the average USA vehicle fleet.
• the transition from NHW11 to NHW20 suggests an apparent reduction in fatal accident rate ... but it is a weak association and requires more detailed analysis based upon VIN numbers.
• to calculate the Prius fleet miles, I used the annual Prius sales; 15,000 miles per vehicle after the first year; 7,500 miles for the sale year; and 5% fleet loss (other data suggest the fleet loss is closer to 2%.)

Fatal pedestrian accident rates are harder to calculate since I've only found 11, Prius-only, single car, pedestrian fatal accidents. There are more, multi-car accidents with pedestrians but it isn't just the accident but the fatalities that are important and these are small numbers. Understand this is my crude approach to Dr. Hogan's more sophisticated analysis (his tools are better!)

Bob Wilson

[Evilshin]

Well the desire to "bell" the hybrid is really a desire to dislike the Prius which is a Japanese car from a "Japanese" company that is doing well considering considering the economy.

That's why we get stories like how great the Ford Fusion hybrid is the best things since sliced bread. The Ford is American. Given all the buy American fury, a hybrid made in the USA (with technology licensed from Toyota) that doesn't completely suck like the Malibooboo hybrid should be all the protectionist rage... right?

No one is saying we should bell the Fusion....

It's protectionism combined with good old American exploitation of ignorance. The truth is blind people are very careful. They generally don't play in traffic. But what's next, bell the bicycle? What about those awful segways? What about other blind people? They're usually very quiet...

Seriously, it's all about resentment... which North America has much too much of, of late... Resentment that is taking advantage of ignorance.

Just today in a CBC report in Canada about Ontario's promise to subsidize electric cars and plug in hybrids, the reporter asked matter of factly: Would people choose to pay more for a car with less range that travels slower?... This is in a report that mentions the Tesla sports car... That's either stupidity, extreme ignorance, or more likely unwanted social commentary. Sad, when you think about it...

[drees]

Originally Posted by Evilshin

Given all the buy American fury, a hybrid made in the USA (with technology licensed from Toyota)

Ford's hybrid technology is it's own. It just happened to be very similar to Toyota and developed at the same time so they cross-licensed patents to avoid litigation. Ford doesn't (and didn't) pay anything to Toyota to build their hybrids.

[bwilson4web]

Originally Posted by Evilshin

Well the desire to "bell" the hybrid is really a desire to dislike the Prius which is a Japanese car from a "Japanese" company that is doing well considering considering the economy.

That's why we get stories like how great the Ford Fusion hybrid is the best things since sliced bread. The Ford is American. Given all the buy American fury, a hybrid made in the USA (with technology licensed from Toyota) that doesn't completely suck like the Malibooboo hybrid should be all the protectionist rage... right?

No one is saying we should bell the Fusion....
. . .

The advocates are a diverse group and the second group fall in that set. For now, these hybrid-skeptics concentrate on the Prius because that is the most common hybrid on the road, nearly 2/3ds of all hybrids in one model. Had Ford been making and selling 100-200,000 per year, not the typical 20,000 per year, Ford would be 'the target.'

From what I can tell of our honorable competition:

• blind access advocates - already have an "access problem," which they believe is solved by 'belling the hybrids.' The problem is they don't understand the big picture. One of my neighbors, a retired research engineer, works with a blind advisory group and told me the blind at-birth have no sense of space or volume like we have. This makes introducing new technology difficult to someone who doesn't share the mental model of the three-dimensional world we know. They really don't understand that adding a noise maker perpetuates the access problem they already have with traffic. Those who lost their sight later in life often have a better understanding than those blind at birth but this is just a trend, not a hard and fast rule. The blind are a diverse group and not a monolithic block.
• hybrid-skeptics - primarily lead by Lotus engineering but also voiced through the "Automotive Alliance," and opportunistic Euro car makers. We find that Tesla, Fisker, and the Volt team, any group that has used Lotus engineering in their design work, implements a "noise maker." But although the GM Volt team announced they will have a noise maker, the GM hybrids, two-modes and 'mild' hybrids, do not have them ... nor Lotus engineering 'help.' Lotus wants two things: (1) someway to sell fake engine sounds, an audio illusion of power, and (2) a government mandate that forces use of one of their patents, a business opportunity.
• Political opportunist - one of the business opportunities of the blind is phone banks ... supporting political campaigns. It is work they are good at but it also puts them in close contact with political operatives. They are leveraging their contacts but running into a hard problem, better than a 2-to-1 opposition from the public. So they are trying to sell it on the QT.

The automotive hybrid-skeptics, like Lotus, are in competition with Toyota and trying to use this as another wedge or club. But every time I've found a pro-noise maker article, often spawned by a "Press release," the follow-up comments have been overwhelming against it. Folks don't like noise makers and see this as an incredibly stupid idea.

I like this NY Times article because the reporter didn't work from a press release but called up and interviewed people. He visited PriusChat and picked up comments from here and others. Although I didn't see his email requesting an interview until too late, his report pretty well matches my view of what is going on.

The Prius gets the attention because the other Toyota hybrids, Ford, Honda, GM mild and two-mode hybrids have too few sales to be targets. With over 2/3ds of the sales and the most visible presence, Toyota is the target and there are automotive opportunist. Lotus engineering seems to lead the pack but the Euro makers are not above seeing an opportunity to whack a successful competitor.

I have to admit a certain amount of amusement at the Euro diesel advocates who have via "Top Gear" joined the 'hybrids are dangerous' chorus. On one hand, they want us to forget the "diesel knock" but on the other, they tout diesel "vroom vroom" in ads. Irony is lost on them. But we have one powerful asset, the accident data.

Thanks to Christopher Hogan's analysis and the continued trends in accident data, our Prius turns out to be no more dangerous than any other vehicle. There is no smoking gun in the accident data and the trend seems to be getting even better as the number of fleet miles continues to grow. The old NHTSA claim of 'we don't have enough data' is being solved as the clock continues to tick. Time and the facts and data are not on the side of the "bell the hybrid" advocates.

Bob Wilson

[Evilshin]

Originally Posted by bwilson4web

Thanks to Christopher Hogan's analysis and the continued trends in accident data, our Prius turns out to be no more dangerous than any other vehicle. There is no smoking gun in the accident data and the trend seems to be getting even better as the number of fleet miles continues to grow. The old NHTSA claim of 'we don't have enough data' is being solved as the clock continues to tick. Time and the facts and data are not on the side of the "bell the hybrid" advocates.

Bob Wilson

Well I have to agree with you that time and facts and data are not on their side. But ignorance is. Yesterday when Ontario announced that they will be subsidizing electric and PHEVs, many comments on the news sites were along the lines of electric cars pollute because of the batteries or electricity use causes greenhouse gases... etc. One person even posted that how after you take into account battery efficiencies electric cars cause more green house gases, but no numbers to back up his claim... LOL... A CBC reporter stated why people would pay more for a slow car, after he showed the tesla and interviewed someone from that company.

Much of the ignorance regarding electric cars, hybrids and PHEV's are based on old stereotypes or old wives tales...

I don't think the blind play in traffic and they certainly don't wander in parking lots. And I don't know of any Prius drivers that like going into stealth mode and drive along the sidewalks... But cyclist on sidewalk... hmmm. Maybe we should have mandatory clackers on bicycles... Personally I would feel a lot safer if shopping carts have dead man brakes...

But I am not convinced that some of this bell the hybrid isn't the same buy American sentiment...