[CT-NFB] FW: [NFB-Legislative-Directors] Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act - And the Petition Advertised Earlier This Week on This List

Nathanael T. Wales ntwales at omsoft.com
Sat Oct 26 19:17:02 UTC 2019


Fellow NFB of Connecticut Members:

 

As someone who is subscribed to our NFB National legislative e-mail list, I wanted to pass along the forwarded message to all of you.  I thought it important because a petition about quiet cars was distributed on this list from NOT the Federation but rather an outside organization.  The forwarded message provides our national policy on quiet cars: that they must make a sound and what those sounds could be and what they may not be.  It strikes me as a reasonable and well thought out position, and I think it will get quiet cars making noise we can use fastest.

 

And as a member of the NFB, you’ve already signed on to this position.  When our National legislative staff share the NFB position with the Federal government, they are speaking for you.  You’ll recall that this is a policy long supported through National Convention resolutions and advocacy on Capitol Hill.  If you’re a Federation member, you’ve already signed up and don’t need to sign another organization’s petition (especially because that petition may not have as good an approach).  Instead, go and enjoy the rest of this beautiful Connecticut fall afternoon…

 

Best,

Nathanael Wales

 

 

From: NFB-Legislative-Directors [mailto:nfb-legislative-directors-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Pare, John via NFB-Legislative-Directors
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2019 9:00 AM
To: nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org
Cc: Pare, John
Subject: [NFB-Legislative-Directors] Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act

 

Good morning:

 

I know there has been a lot of discussion about updates to the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act in the past few days, and I wanted to reiterate the National Federation of the Blind’s stance on the issue of multiple possible alert sounds. 

 

The email below, which I sent yesterday to Maurice Peret, the chair of the Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety, gives a detailed summary of our involvement in the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act since the very beginning. We worked with automakers back in 2011 to draft a law that we could support, and we have supported it ever since. Our most recent comments to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration <https://www.nfb.org/sites/www.nfb.org/files/files-pdf/nfb-response-to-docket-no-nhtsa-2019-0085.pdf>  continue that history of support. 

 

Thank you for all that you do,

John

 

John G. Paré Jr. 

Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy

200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230

(410) 659-9314, extension 2218 | Jpare at nfb.org

 

 

 <https://nfb.org/> National Federation of the Blind

 

                          <http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind> Facebook     <https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice> Twitter     <https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind> Youtube

 

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want. 

 

 

 

 

From: Pare, John 
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2019 4:01 PM
To: Peret, Maurice <MPeret at nfb.org>
Subject: Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act

 

Dear Maurice:

 

As the chair of the Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety, I wanted to make sure you are up to date on the recent NHTSA request for comments.

 

The National Federation of the Blind has always supported the idea that car companies might want to provide more than one sound that is compliant with the regulations set forth under the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (PSEA), which was signed into law on January 4, 2011. The PSEA, which can be found at https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/senate-bill/841/text/pl, states: 

 

“The Secretary shall allow manufacturers to provide each vehicle with one or more sounds that comply with the motor vehicle safety standard at the time of manufacture. Further, the Secretary shall require manufacturers to provide, within reasonable manufacturing tolerances, the same sound or set of sounds for all vehicles of the same make and model and shall prohibit manufacturers from providing any mechanism for anyone other than the manufacturer or the dealer to disable, alter, replace, or modify the sound or set of sounds, except that the manufacturer or dealer may alter, replace, or modify the sound or set of sounds in order to remedy a defect or non-compliance with the motor vehicle safety standard.”

 

The National Federation of the Blind supported this language because multiple sounds have the potential to create greater societal acceptance, and any sound that manufacturers provide must be compliant. Unfortunately, when the final rule (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-12-14/pdf/2016-28804.pdf) was released on December 14, 2016, NHTSA mandated that only one sound could be provided by the auto manufacturers. This is what led to the petition, dated January 30, 2017 (https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NHTSA-2016-0125-0012), filed by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Global Automakers to allow a selection of sounds for consumers to choose from. Finally, NHTSA is now considering this petition, and has issued a request for comment regarding the implementation of selectable sounds. It has always been our interpretation of the law that a “sound or set of sounds” is permitted. We filed our comments on Tuesday, October 22 and they can be found in the Policy Statements section of our website. If you have any questions regarding this topic, please let me know.

 

Thanks,

John

 

John G. Paré Jr. 

Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy

200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230

(410) 659-9314, extension 2218 | Jpare at nfb.org

 

 

 <https://nfb.org/> National Federation of the Blind

 

                          <http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind> Facebook     <https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice> Twitter     <https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind> Youtube

 

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want. 

 

 

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