[Nfbf-l] Noisier Hybrid, Electric Cars as Safety Measure

[Jody W. Ianuzzi]

UN Mulls Noisier Hybrid, Electric Cars as Safety Measure

 A U.S.  Department of Transportation study found that the rate 
of accidents
 involving hybrid electric vehicles was twice as high as normal 
cars in
 certain situations.

 By Hui Min Neo
 Agence France-Presse, September 9, 2010

 Kenneth Feith, who is from a UN group trying cut vehicle noise 
for over 30
 years, admitted it was quite a surprise when he got a request 
for electric
 and hybrid cars to make more noise.  "My response was, 'you're 
crazy'," he
 recounted.

 But as he was taken through the issue of cars so silent that 
they creep up
 unnoticed on the visually impaired, elderly and cyclists, the 
chairman of
 the UN working group on quiet road transport vehicles
 acknowledged: "Clearly, there is a problem."

 To combat this safety issue, Feith and his team began in March 
2009 to
 work
 towards creating a new noise standard for electric and hybrid 
vehicles,
 which hum almost soundlessly compared to regular petrol or 
diesel cars.

 A U.S.  Department of Transportation study found that the rate 
of accidents
 involving hybrid electric vehicles was twice as high as normal 
cars in
 certain situations, such as when reversing and entering or 
leaving a
 parking
 space.

 "Cars have become dangerously quiet," said John Pare Junior, 
executive
 director for strategic initiatives at the U.S.  National 
Federation of the
 Blind.  "This is a big concern for all pedestrians throughout 
the world,
 particularly blind people, who can't see cars but can hear cars.  
We rely
 on
 the sound of the vehicles to travel safely," he added.

 The UN group is now trying to establish the volume of sound 
needed,
 whether
 a reversing car should emit a different sound, or if a 
particular sound is
 necessary when the vehicle is stationary even if its engine is 
on.  This
 does
 not necessary mean creating more noise, said Feith, noting that 
what is
 required is a distinctive sound signaling the arrival or a 
presence of a
 vehicle.

 "We think we can do that without increasing the noise impact 
overall," he
 said, noting for example that a ticking sound could be 
introduced when a
 vehicle is accelerating.

 As hybrid vehicles gain traction with the public, a global norm 
is needed
 urgently, said Feith.

 Japanese car manufacturers, including Mitsubishi and Nissan, are 
working
 on
 developing systems to make their hybrid cars a little noisier.  
Toyota is
 already offering such a system to customers.

 To avoid a situation in which each brand comes up with their own 
types of
 sounds to signal different situations, the UN working group, 
which
 includes
 major car manufacturing countries -- the United States, European 
Union and
 Japan, is aiming to come up with a global standard in coming 
months.  It
 expects to complete its work in the next one and a half years.

 The finalized standard should include specifications on areas 
such as
 sound
 spectrum, sound limits and the detectability of the vehicle over 
a certain
 distance.