[il-talk] Fwd: [State-affiliate-leadership-list] U.S. proposes minimum sounds for 'quiet cars'

Tue Jan 8 17:36:09 UTC 2013

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> From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
> Date: January 8, 2013, 9:51:35 AM CST
> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [State-affiliate-leadership-list] U.S. proposes minimum sounds for 'quiet cars'
> Reply-To: State Affiliate Leadership List <state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org>
> 
> 
> U.S. proposes minimum sounds for 'quiet cars'
> 
> By David Shepardson
> The Detroit News
> 
> 
> http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130107/AUTO01/301070407/U-S-proposes-mi
> nimum-sounds-quiet-cars-?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
> 
> 
> The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing new rules to
> require minimum sound levels from electric vehicles, hybrids and other quiet
> cars to warn pedestrians.
> 
> NHTSA's proposal - required by Congress in 2010 - sets minimum sound levels
> for hybrid and electric vehicles to help make all pedestrians, especially
> visually impaired people, aware of approaching vehicles.
> 
> Electric and hybrid vehicles do not rely on traditional engines and at low
> speeds can be very difficult to hear.
> 
> NHTSA plans to phase in the new rules starting in the 2016 model year over
> three years. It expects the proposal will cost the auto industry about $23
> million during the first year.
> 
> NHTSA estimates the cost of adding a speaker system to comply with the
> requirements to be around $35 per vehicle.
> 
> The new rules would also apply to electric motorcycles and heavy-duty
> vehicles - despite the opposition of BMW to the motorcycle requirement.
> 
> But the rules would not apply to quiet traditional internal combustion
> engines or those equipped with "stop-start" fuel-saving technology that
> shuts off the motor at intersections. NHTSA said it may in the future opt to
> require sounds in those vehicles.
> 
> NHTSA estimates the odds of a hybrid vehicle being involved in a pedestrian
> crash is 19 percent higher compared with traditional gas- or diesel-powered
> vehicles. For a bicycle crash, it's 38 percent higher.
> 
> "Our proposal would allow manufacturers the flexibility to design different
> sounds for different makes and models while still providing an opportunity
> for pedestrians, bicyclists and the visually impaired to detect and
> recognize a vehicle and make a decision about whether it is safe to cross
> the street," said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland.
> 
> The sounds would need to be detectable under a wide range of street noises
> and other ambient background sounds when the vehicle is traveling less than
> 18 mph.
> 
> The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers - the trade group representing
> Detroit's Big Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and others
> - praised the flexibility in the rule, but is still reviewing it.
> 
> "We understand that the proposal allows for some flexibilities in the
> specifics of the simulated sound autos will produce, while avoiding opening
> a Pandora's box of sounds. That's how it is in the real world: Some cars
> sound differently than others; it can even differ from one brand to the
> next," spokesman Wade Newton said. "The alliance will continue working with
> National Federation of the Blind, and others, to work toward this being the
> model for an international safety standard. In the coming weeks we'll review
> the proposal's technical elements to help ensure that the safety standard
> meets the needs of the blind, and takes into appropriate consideration
> concerns about overall levels of ambient noise."
> 
> Automakers told NHTSA not to worry about setting the specific sounds.
> 
> Automakers said "they did not believe it was necessary to try to prevent
> annoying sounds because manufacturers would not use annoying sounds as alert
> sounds because they do not want to annoy their customers," NHTSA said.
> 
> NHTSA is considering allowing hybrid and electric vehicles to meet the
> minimum sound requirements for the backing scenario with a beeping sound
> similar to the sound made by a backing truck, but wants to know "whether
> such a sound would be annoying to the public."
> 
> NHTSA said at 18 mph and above, vehicles make sufficient noise to allow
> pedestrians and bicyclists to detect them without added sound.
> 
> NHTSA is allowing automakers to have a significant range of choices about
> the sounds it chooses for its vehicles, but the characteristics of the
> sounds must meet certain minimum requirements.
> 
> NHTSA says each vehicle of the same make and model would need to emit the
> same sound or set of sounds.
> 
> NHTSA estimates the proposal will lead to 2,800 fewer pedestrian and cyclist
> injuries over the life of each model year, compared to vehicles without
> sound.
> 
> NHTSA has been studying the issue since 2007.
> 
> In September 2009, NHTSA's study of 600,000 crashes found hybrid vehicles
> are two times more likely than traditional gas-powered vehicles to be in a
> pedestrian crash when the vehicle is backing out, slowing or stopping,
> starting in traffic, and entering or leaving a parking spot.
> 
> NHTSA is working with regulators in Japan and the European Union to set a
> single standard for automakers worldwide for minimum sound levels through a
> United Nations working group.
> 
> In developing the rules, NHTSA staff traveled to the national headquarters
> of the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore, where NHTSA staff were
> blindfolded and trained to use a white cane outside on city streets with
> blind and visually impaired individuals as guides.
> 
> NHTSA officials attempted to navigate city streets and cross at non-signaled
> intersections.
> 
> dshepardson at detnews.com
> 
> (202) 662-8735
> 
> 
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