Wisconsin Couincil for Blind say hybrids are too quiet

Hey, if the Wisconsin Council on the Blind wants to pay for a microtransmitter to be put into my car, I'd be happy to allow them.

 

Is there some source for statistics on blind people being injured by "quiet cars", or is this just another hyped-up theoretical problem for allowing the government an opportunity to intrude on our personal lives?

 

Oh those wacky Cheeseheads!!

Thankfully I vacated the state 30 years ago!!!!


YES, just what are those stats, just how many Blind have been mowed down by Pirus, Civic, and other Hybrids. At the same time what are the stats for Blind folk hit down by "Normal" vehicles.

How about just putting the damn backup beep on the outside of the car, instead of on the inside, where it might just do some good, might be a pretty simple minor first step.

Sadly at most of the parking lots I visit, 98% of the people do not even look, much listen as they meander around the center of the driving lane with a vapid look on their face, wondering just where did I park the "Land Yacht" while talking on their cell phones. God forbid you honk at them to SNAP OUT OF IT!!! Pay attention. You should certainly be able to see a car being out in the open, far easier than I a driver with blind spots etc looking out for you!!! Take some personal responsibility, I have enough trouble keeping myself following the straight and narrow, I am tired of looking out for the rest of you!

The Blind have a legit excuse, whats wrong with the rest of you parking lot lemmings!!!

Just some random thoughts ....
73 de Pat KK6PD

 

Read somewhere recently (can't find the link now) some seeing eye dogs are going to be hybrid trained (not the ultimate answer but its a start)

 

What about affixing flashing and beeping beacons to blind people? I'm sure there are more hybrids on the road than there are blind people (so the cost would be less than modifying the hybrids), and these beacons would enable drivers to notice them more easily than a blind person could echolocate a Prius with a baseball card in its spokes.

 

I am not insensitive to the needs of the blind. For example US currency
should contain something that allows blind folks to know what bills they
are using. That is a no brainer.

Complaining that a car is too quiet has to be the silliest thing I ever
heard of a blind group/community complaining of.

For example, are not modern bicycles awful quiet? How about the average
pedestrian walking on the sidewalk or a jogger? Do blind people complain
about hitting these things or people too often?

A blind person should be crossing the street at a proper place with that beeping
noise telling them when to cross from the walk signal. If you do not have
that in your city your complaints should be more prioritized. I never saw
a blind person just jet out in the middle of a 25 mph road. The folks I see
use the cross walks and do just fine. Amazingly fine actually.

edited to add: if they can complain about too quiet, I wish to get all loud motorcycles
banned from the city. I want peace and quiet. I do not care about your Harley
and its patented noise. And this is the problem of creating such laws. It opens up
the door for everyone to complain about what other people do.

 

Well,

Technology is a double edged sword. I think if they did this, there will be allot more blind pedestrians getting hit by standard cars. "Well, I did not hear any car coming, and there was no hybrid car beeper going either" the blind pedestrian remarked as he was taken away to the hospital. Why? Because many standard cars have fuel cut mode, and that eliminates combustion noise. Besides exhausts are on the back of the car, and direct the exhaust noise in that direction. Go out on any road 25 mph or faster and try to hear the engine of an oncoming car. Ha! And the first thing many people do when they see a pedestrian close to the road, is to lift throttle and put their foot over the brake.

So instead of protecting blind pedestrians, this device will trick them into walking into the street. Because they will have bought all the falsehoods that only hybrid cars are quiet. When cars have been being made quieter since the advent of the hydraulic lifter, radial tires, serpentine belts, fan clutches, electric fans etc cetera and now fuel cut mode.

 

I have. I could tell he was blind as he had his red and white cane held vertically, as blind people do to detect the curb. But it was Octoberfest weekend here in town and this was a block from the tent. He went right in front of 2 cars in the oncoming direction, which had to brake hard, but short of skidding. The across a turn lane without stopping across the inside lane and then in front of me. And my engine was running, as I was going uphill. Did not seem to make a difference to him . But there were now about 20 cars in the oncomming lane idling because they stopped behind the two cars that had to brake hard to avoid hitting this guy. So all that engine noise probably drowned out my tire noise. There was no tire noise but mine within 50 yards. I was the only car in the lane I was in for 100 yards back , or forward, but there were other cars pulling into the stopage in the other direction. I swerved from the outside lane to the inside lane and missed him.

I have done more evasive maneuvers for Cell Phone talkers than for drunk blind guys, though. And more Cell Phone talkers have been killed by cars than blind people by Prius (none with 500 K Prius on the road in the US now).

 

>> So instead of protecting blind pedestrians, this device will trick them into walking into the street.

Good point, my Civic is quiet (not as quiet as a stealthy Prius but I'm working on that)

 

I summarized the available statistics in the attached report. And sure enough, as far as you can tell from the small numbers, blind pedestrians killed in car crashes are just as likely to be drunk as are sighted pedestrians who are killed in car crashes.

Short answer is, an average of about 5 legally blind pedestrians are killed every year. So far, none by hybrids.

 

if blind drunks are killed in hybrids maybe they shouldnt drive them? eep:

 

I was just thinking about this today in the supermarket parking lot. I noticed I couldn't hear ANY cars because the noise of the traffic on the busy street was too loud.

 

You did a great job in the video Eric! (You never know how it when end up when they edit it down to a soundbite)

I would suggest to the Council that they put their electronic devices on bicycles too! Are they not silent when approaching the blind?

Oh yeah... I just remembered, the Prius does come with an electronic warning device for when approaching the blind or anyone else who does not see you. It's called a HORN!

beep beep

 

Students’ prototype counters quiet creep of hybrid cars

Their PANDA system, Meyer said, is about 5 decibels quieter than a regular combustion engine from the front and 10 to 20 decibels quieter from the back. They're working on a commercial version of PANDA they hope to have ready by early June. (PANDA stands for "Pedestrian Awareness Noise-emitting Device and Application.)
The sound comes from small speakers the size of one's palm installed in the front wheel wells and under the back bumper, said Meyer. They can handle all weather conditions and a wide temperature range, he added.
The noise isn't audible from inside the car, Bai said, unless you roll down a window. He opened the car door and pointed to the wired blue box in front of the gear shifter that generates the sound. "This gives us a chance to shape the soundscape," Meyer said. Their business plan is at the moment is, "If you build it, they will come."
This summer Meyer and Bai are taking their prototype on the road to the national convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Dallas, the Plug-In Exposition in San Jose and NoiseCon in Dearborn, Mich. The Prius, they said, won't be coming with them. Instead, they hope to use a vehicle borrowed or volunteered on site.

 

As I said here, based on chogan2's excellent analysis:

 

Bill, those grad students will need to learn through experience...

 

Wow,
I am opposed to blind people driving hybrids, but hybrid trained dogs!!
Here in S FL, sight impaired people are apparently given "safe driver" licenses.
I enjoy watching them try to parallel park by the "Braille" method.