[NFBWV-Talk] FYI Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act from National Office

[Smyth, Charlene R]

Good morning:

I know there has been a lot of discussion about updates to the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act in the past few days, and I wanted to reiterate the National Federation of the Blind's stance on the issue of multiple possible alert sounds.

The email below, which I sent yesterday to Maurice Peret, the chair of the Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety, gives a detailed summary of our involvement in the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act since the very beginning. We worked with automakers back in 2011 to draft a law that we could support, and we have supported it ever since. Our most recent comments to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration<https://www.nfb.org/sites/www.nfb.org/files/files-pdf/nfb-response-to-docket-no-nhtsa-2019-0085.pdf> continue that history of support.

Thank you for all that you do,
John

John G. Paré Jr.
Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314, extension 2218 | Jpare at nfb.org<mailto:Jpare at nfb.org>


[National Federation of the Blind]<https://nfb.org/>

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From: Pare, John
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2019 4:01 PM
To: Peret, Maurice <MPeret at nfb.org<mailto:MPeret at nfb.org>>
Subject: Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act

Dear Maurice:

As the chair of the Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety, I wanted to make sure you are up to date on the recent NHTSA request for comments.

The National Federation of the Blind has always supported the idea that car companies might want to provide more than one sound that is compliant with the regulations set forth under the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (PSEA), which was signed into law on January 4, 2011. The PSEA, which can be found at https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/senate-bill/841/text/pl, states:

"The Secretary shall allow manufacturers to provide each vehicle with one or more sounds that comply with the motor vehicle safety standard at the time of manufacture. Further, the Secretary shall require manufacturers to provide, within reasonable manufacturing tolerances, the same sound or set of sounds for all vehicles of the same make and model and shall prohibit manufacturers from providing any mechanism for anyone other than the manufacturer or the dealer to disable, alter, replace, or modify the sound or set of sounds, except that the manufacturer or dealer may alter, replace, or modify the sound or set of sounds in order to remedy a defect or non-compliance with the motor vehicle safety standard."

The National Federation of the Blind supported this language because multiple sounds have the potential to create greater societal acceptance, and any sound that manufacturers provide must be compliant. Unfortunately, when the final rule (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-12-14/pdf/2016-28804.pdf) was released on December 14, 2016, NHTSA mandated that only one sound could be provided by the auto manufacturers. This is what led to the petition, dated January 30, 2017 (https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NHTSA-2016-0125-0012), filed by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Global Automakers to allow a selection of sounds for consumers to choose from. Finally, NHTSA is now considering this petition, and has issued a request for comment regarding the implementation of selectable sounds. It has always been our interpretation of the law that a "sound or set of sounds" is permitted. We filed our comments on Tuesday, October 22 and they can be found in the Policy Statements section of our website. If you have any questions regarding this topic, please let me know.

Thanks,
John

John G. Paré Jr.
Executive Director for Advocacy and Policy
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
(410) 659-9314, extension 2218 | Jpare at nfb.org<mailto:Jpare at nfb.org>


[National Federation of the Blind]<https://nfb.org/>

                         [Facebook] <http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>     [Twitter] <https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice>     [Youtube] <https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind>

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.



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