[nfbwatlk] {Disarmed} Fw: [Blind_Democrats] U.S. Weighs Rule Requiring Hybrids, EV Cars to Sound Pedestrian Alerts

[Lauren Merryfield]

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: Carolyn Ranker 
To: Jeanie Wood 
Cc: Dennis Ranker 
Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2011 5:12 AM
Subject: [Blind_Democrats] U.S. Weighs Rule Requiring Hybrids, EV Cars to Sound Pedestrian Alerts


  


-----Original Message----- 
From: John Rae
Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2011 7:17 AM
To: viewpoints at screenreview.org
Subject: U.S. Weighs Rule Requiring Hybrids, EV Cars to Sound Pedestrian 
Alerts

U.S. Weighs Rule Requiring Hybrids, EV Cars to Sound
Pedestrian Alerts

By JASON PLAUTZ.
The New York Times - July 8, 2011

Electric vehicles and hybrid cars could be required to sound alerts to
pedestrians under a new proposal from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.

In a notice (pdf) posted yesterday on its website, the agency announced the
first steps toward a rule aimed at protecting pedestrians and bikers from
the nearly silent cars.

The regulation would force light-duty cars, motorcycles, vans and trucks to
automatically sound alerts at low speeds.

"Even as we make giant leaps forward with hybrid and electric vehicles, we
must remain laser focused on safety," NHTSA Administrator David Strickland
said in a statement. "With more and more quiet vehicles on the road, we have

to consider their effect on pedestrians."

The move was mandated under the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010,
which calls for NHTSA to publish a final rule requiring alerts and setting
standards for them by January 2014. The standards would take effect within
three years of the final rule's publication.

Two previous administration reports on the matter found that the quiet
hybrid and electric vehicles posed a greater safety risk than their
gas-powered equivalents, particularly to visually impaired pedestrians.

The Chevrolet Volt already has a warning system for pedestrians, although
drivers must activate that system.
Japan requires its automakers to install sound alerts, and the Nissan Leaf
emits an engine noise at low speeds and has a chirp when the car is in
reverse.

The NHTSA notice says the agency will explore several options, including a
synthetic sound, a system that mimics the noise of an internal combustion
engine at low speeds or a combination of the two. The notice will be
published soon in the Federal Register, opening a 30-day comment period.



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