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<font size=2>The following article on the danger posed by silent cars
appeared today on the front page of the <i>Washington Post</i>.<br><br>
</font> <br>
<i>Washington Post</i> <br>
<font size=4><b>The Deadly Silence of the Electric Car</b></font> <br>
<br>
<b><i>Automakers Propose Vroom-Vroom Substitutes to Alert
Pedestrians</i></b> <br>
Byline: Peter Whoriskey<br>
Publication Date: 09/23/2009 <br>
<a href="http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z2220551574&z=950243970">
Link to Article</a> <br><br>
<br><br>
After years of trying to make cars sound as if they were riding on air,
engineers are considering how they might bring back some noise. They're
trying to make some of them -- those silent hybrids -- more audible.
<br><br>
But how? <br><br>
A team of engineers developing the Leaf, the forthcoming electric car
from Nissan and a front-runner in the race for a mass-market electric
car, have recently been presenting their ideas for artificial noises to
government officials and focus groups. <br><br>
Maybe Chime Number 22? <br><br>
Melody Number 39? <br><br>
Perhaps a futuristic whirring like the aircraft in 'Blade Runner'? As
hybrids proliferate and major automakers such as Nissan and General
Motors prepare to launch battery electric vehicles next year, some
automakers are seeking to address concerns in the United States and Japan
that the nearly noiseless vehicles may be so quiet that they pose a
threat to pedestrians. <br><br>
At a meeting earlier this month and another over the summer, Nissan
presented the chime, the melody and a futuristic whir to the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has recently gathered
evidence that the vehicles may pose a safety risk. <br><br>
Regulatory committees in the United States and Japan are also studying
complaints about the cars, and Congress is weighing a measure requiring
vehicles to issue 'non-visual' warnings to pedestrians. 'We are studying
potential artificial noises that can be added to the vehicle,' said Scott
Becker, a Nissan senior vice president. <br><br>
But the nascent industry is divided over whether safety sounds should be
added to the quiet cars and, if so, what those noises should be.
'Frankly, we've been working for 30 years to make cars quiet -- never
thinking they could become too quiet,' said Robert Strassburger, vice
president for vehicle safety at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers,
an industry group that has been working to address the concerns. But now
'those vehicles may be difficult to detect.' Hybrid vehicles typically
operate on hushed battery-powered electric motors when idling and
traveling at low speeds. At higher speeds, the noisier
internal-combustion engine kicks in. Toyota, which makes the popular
hybrid Prius, a small car that runs very quietly at low speeds, does not
add artificial sounds. <br><br>
Cars like Tesla's Roadster, Nissan's Leaf and General Motors' Volt, which
will depend on battery electric power, may be even quieter. <br><br>
Officials at Tesla say they have no intention of implementing 'fake
noises.' The company already makes the $109,000 electric Roadster, a
luxury product popular with eco-conscious celebrity customers. 'We have
delivered more than 700 cars, and our customers overwhelmingly say the
relative quiet of the powertrain is one of the most appealing aspects of
the car,' said Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad. 'Thanks to widespread
electric vehicle adoption, we will all enjoy far less noise pollution in
the future.' Evidence that the hybrid sales spurt poses a safety threat
has been scant, in part because the phenomenon is new and the hybrid cars
represent only a small fraction of the more than 230 million vehicles on
the road, transportation officials said. <br><br>
But an as-yet-unreleased NHTSA study of accidents in 12 states compares
accident rates for some hybrid vehicles and their internal combustion
engine counterparts. <br><br>
Covering more than 8,000 hybrid electric vehicles and nearly 600,000
gasoline-fueled cars, the analysis suggests that during certain low-speed
maneuvers such as turning and backing up, hybrid vehicles are 50 percent
more likely to be involved in an accident with a pedestrian, said Ronald
Medford, acting deputy administrator of NHTSA. 'We certainly know that
blind pedestrians rely heavily on the sound of vehicles as a means of
determining when it is safe to cross the road,' Medford said. 'But all of
us are susceptible.' The potential problem arises at speeds less than 15
mph, when the electric and hybrid vehicles are notably quiet, almost
silent. At higher speeds, the rush of air and the slap of tires makes the
electrics almost as noisy as their gasoline-powered counterparts.
<br><br>
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) has introduced a bill that would require the
Department of Transportation to establish a safety standard under which
cars would have to be equipped to issue 'non-visual alerts' so that
pedestrians can determine the vehicle's location, motion and speed.
<br><br>
It has garnered 139 sponsors, among them Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), who says
he has been startled by a quiet car. 'I was down in Florida in the
parking lot of a shopping center, and I was wheeling my groceries with my
wife, and I didn't hear a car come up behind me,' Stearns told reporters.
'If all the cars are silent in the future, it does pose a problem.' But
if electric cars are to be equipped with sound, there is little agreement
over what the sound should be, how loud it ought to be and whether
manufacturers should be allowed to create their own distinctive audio
tracks. <br><br>
Some automakers are already experimenting with or planning to develop
noises. <br><br>
The Fisker Karma, a luxury electric vehicle, will have an integrated
audio system that will both alert pedestrians and give the car a
'distinctive audio signature' that will be 'reflective of the car's
advanced technology,' a spokesman said. Officials with the <b>National
Federation of the Blind</b>, which has pressed the safety issue with
automakers and regulators, have advocated that electric cars make sounds
similar to those of gas-powered cars. 'Society is conditioned to that
sound,' said John Pare, director of strategic initiatives for the group.
<br><br>
There is some concern that if a variety of noises are permitted, then
electric cars could merely add another layer to the urban cacophony,
potentially conflicting with state and local laws governing decibel
levels. 'If we all do it differently, we will confuse the heck out of the
consumer,'' said Nancy Gioia, director of hybrid and sustainable
technology at Ford. <br><br>
Nissan declined to release the audio tracks being considered but said it
would make its final decision in consultation with regulators. <br><br>
It is also seeking approval from drivers, some of whom have been fussy
about the various sounds tested. 'They are too flat and irritating in
hearing for more than even five minutes,' one respondent in a Nissan test
said. 'Monotonous sound makes me sleepy,' said another. <br><br>
Said Pare: 'We are certain that there is a safe level of sound that isn't
burdensome to society.' <br>
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