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<DIV dir=ltr class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left><FONT size=2
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Freeh, Jessica
[mailto:JFreeh@nfb.org]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, November 30, 2009 9:38
AM<BR><B>To:</B> Alpidio Rolon; Amy Buresh; Angela Wolf; Anil Lewis; Art
Schreiber; Beth Rival; Bill Packee; Bob Kresmer; Carl Jacobsen; Cathy Jackson;
Charlene Smyth; Christine G. Hall; Dan Hicks; Daniel Burke; Don Galloway; Donna
Wood; Elsie Lamp; Frank Lee; Franklin Shiner; Fred Schroeder; Gary Ray; Gary
Wunder; J.W. Smith; James Antonacci; James Broadnax; Jennelle Bichler; Jennifer
Dunnam; Joe Ruffalo; John Batron; John Fritz; Joyce Scanlan; Ken Rollman; Kevan
Worley; Larry Posont; Marie Johnson; Mary Willows; Matt Lyles; Matt Lyles;
Melissa Riccobono; Michael Barber; Michael Freeman; Mika Pyyhkala; Nani Fife;
Pam Allen; Parnell Diggs; Patti Chang; Richard Gaffney; Ron Brown; Ron Gardner;
Sam Gleese; Scott LaBarre; Selena Sundling-Crawford; Terri
Rupp<BR><B>Subject:</B> USA Today article: GM works to make some
noise<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV align=left><FONT face=Garamond></FONT></DIV>
<H2><FONT face=Arial>GM works to make some noise</FONT></H2>
<P><FONT face=Arial></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Arial>News Outlet: </FONT><FONT face=Arial><EM>USA
Today<BR></EM><SPAN class=676143414-30112009>November 25, 2009</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>By Chris Woodyard</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>General Motors will announce today 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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=676143414-30112009>"</SPAN>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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Automakers balk at going that far for the moment. Toyota,
the largest producer of hybrid cars, says it is still studying the issue. So is
Nissan, which plans to introduce the all-electric Leaf next year.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>GM already is equipping its new 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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=676143414-30112009>"</SPAN>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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Other automakers aren't so sure. Tesla, which already has
sold about 900 all-electric Roadsters, is reluctant to make noise.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=676143414-30112009>"</SPAN>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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>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."</FONT></P></DIV>
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