[Nfbc-info] FW: GM working with the blind to give electric cars a little noise

[Jonathan Lyens]

Passing along a web article you may find of interest.

By Chris Woodyard
<http://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=114> , USA
TODAY 

General Motors
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Manufa
cturing,+Construction/General+Motors>  will announce Wednesday that it's
working with one of the largest advocacy organizations for the
vision-impaired to find ways for the next-generation electric cars to
make enough noise that pedestrians can hear them coming. 

GM says it's working with the National Federation of the Blind on
technology to make sure that near-silent electric cars and hybrids don't
sneak up on unsuspecting walkers or runners.

It's potentially a growing problem as the nation switches to
battery-powered cars as an alternative to high-priced gasoline. A bill
that would direct the Transportation Department to regulate a solution
the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act  was introduced in Congress
earlier this year.

One study already points to dangers. Walkers and bicyclists are being
struck at a greater rate by hybrid vehicles than by conventional cars,
concluded the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in
September.

"I've had probably 25 blind people in the country tell me they've almost
been hit by these cars," says NFB President Marc Maurer. Vehicles
brushed up against some or crushed their white canes, he says.

Maurer says he believes electric cars of the future will need to be
equipped with a forward-directed sound device that operates without
interruption while the car is in motion. All electric vehicles will have
to make roughly the same artificial noise, he says, so that blind people
will be able to distinguish them as moving vehicles.

Automakers balk at going that far for the moment. Toyota
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Manufa
cturing,+Construction/Toyota+Motor+Corporation> , the largest producer
of hybrid cars, says it is still studying the issue. So is Nissan
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Nissan+Motor+Co.,+Ltd> , which
plans to introduce the all-electric Leaf next year.

GM already is equipping its new Chevrolet
<http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Brands/Automotive/Chevrolet>
Volt extended-range electric car with a driver-activated warning system.
The car will emit a short audible horn pulse about as loud as the ring
of a telephone when the driver pulls back on the turn-signal switch.

"We want to make sure it is something friendly and not startling," says
Volt's chief engineer, Andrew Farah. He says they already believed the
sound had to be "clearly automotive" in nature. And the collaboration
with the federation is aimed at seeing if something more is needed.

Other automakers aren't so sure. Tesla, which already has sold about 900
all-electric Roadsters, is reluctant to make noise.

"One of the top attributes that our customers bring up is that (the car)
is so quiet," says spokeswoman Rachel Konrad. "The majority of the sound
is not from the engine. It's tire noise and wind resistance."

As a result, she says, Tesla is monitoring research and regulations
around the issue as it might affect its $109,000 two-seater, but
probably won't add a noisemaker unless there is a "compelling reason."