[Ohio-talk] this is what the doctor sent out in a attachment it is good coming from his daughter and some may not be able to open it so here it is again sorry this is just good.

Tue Mar 30 11:41:05 UTC 2010

Ebony Smith

Eng 151

Professor Russell

23 Feb 2010

Make Some Noise! 

Silent Hybrids Need a Sound Device to Prevent Accidents

            Would you rather spend a few dollars to salvage a life or would
you prefer to save your money and personally kill an innocent stranger?  The
answer for most individuals is the former.then why are we putting silent
vehicles on the road?  They pose a threat to blind pedestrians who depend on
sound cues to cross the street safely.  Mr. Osborn experienced this problem
with a new hybrid vehicle first hand.  

Michael Osborn, a blind marketing consultant..and his guide dog, Hastings,
were in the middle of an intersection one morning.when the yellow Lab
stopped short.  Osborn took the cue and halted-just in time to feel the
breeze from a car passing right in front of them.  'Half an inch and it
would have hit us.it wasn't making any noise,' says Osborn (Quiet 16).

            Hybrid vehicles, like the Toyota Prius that almost hit Osborn,
are growing in population because they are environmentally friendlier than
traditional gas vehicles.  They provide better gas mileage and less
pollution because it switches from a gas-powered engine to an electric
battery that causes the vehicle to be "almost silent.  A hybrid vehicle is
generally quieter than a vacuum cleaner," a plus for anyone living in a busy
and noisy neighborhood (Quiet 16).  People commonly say that hybrid cars do
not pose a threat to pedestrians because all drivers can see the white cane
that every blind person carries, so the fact that the cars are silent should
not and does not affect someone attempting to safely cross the street.

            However, many fail to realize that blind and sighted
pedestrians, bicyclists, children, and the elderly depend on sound cues from
vehicles in order to travel safely.  According to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, "walkers and bicyclists are being struck at a
greater rate by hybrid vehicles than by conventional cars" (Woodyard 3b).
That is proof that there is a problem with having silent vehicles and the
National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has been fighting for a change for
years.  The fight started in Illinois with Deborah Kentstein when she was
almost hit by one of these vehicles, explains J.W. Smith, President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio (Smith).  They are pushing to get
bills passed by Congress that will require the "National Highway Traffic
safety Administration to study the minimum decibel level required to alert
the blind and other pedestrians to motor vehicles" in order to make an
effective sound device (Stover 37).

            It is not realistic to ban silent hybrids, however, these
vehicles must be equipped with simple, inexpensive sound devices that alert
pedestrians of moving vehicles, prevent accidents, and most importantly,
save lives.

            How would you feel if you received a call informing you of your
father's untimely death?  I know I would be beyond devastated.  My dad is my
best friend.I love laughing, hanging out, and talking with him.  Some things
worry me though, like these new silent hybrid vehicles.  My father is blind
and he commonly walks around town and our neighborhood by himself; sometimes
without a cane or someone to guide him.  I know that hybrids are a threat
and it honestly scares me.

            Advocates of the Pedestrian Safety Act, like my father, are not
fighting to ban hybrids from roads; it is quite the opposite in fact.  He
says that the NFB are all about "environmentally conscious" and they do not
want "a lot of noise," but they do want safety on the roads.  Also, Michael
Osborn says that he is an "'environmentalist'" and is "'all for quiet cars'"
but points out the fact that they create "'a particular problem for somebody
who has no vision'" (Flandez B.1).  

            A simple noise producer that can alert pedestrians of on-coming
vehicles can save numerous lives.  NFB President Marc Maurer states, 

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.so
that blind people will be able to distinguish them as moving vehicles
(Woodyard 3b.).

Furthermore, members of NFB's Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety
have discussed ideas and the criteria for these sound devices, where "the
sound should be loud enough to be heard over the din of other ambient noise"
(Flandez B.1., Quiet 16).

            These requests seem simple enough, but some are still objecting.
A common misconception is that silent hybrids do not pose a threat to blind
pedestrians because drivers can easily spot the white cane blind pedestrians
carry with them.  The founder of the Toyota Prius Club, Seve MacPete,
brushes off the fact that silent cars pose any threat because it is easy for
drivers to notice a blind pedestrian because they "usually have a special
white cane with red tip."  He notes, "and if you could say anything about
hybrid drivers, they are more aware of their surroundings than other
drivers" (Flandez B.1.).  Hybrid drivers are more aware of their
surroundings than other drivers?  

Another excuse for not addressing this issue is that many automobile
companies are reluctant to put a sound device on their vehicles because they
do not want to compromise their sales.  A spokeswoman for Tesla brings up
the idea, "one of the top attributes that our customers bring up is that
[the car] is so quiet" and they do not want to risk losing those sales
(Woodyard 3b.).  Others say that noises from vehicles pose health threats
like hearing loss and higher risks for heart attacks, to the people living
in those communities (Stover 37). 

First of all, not all blind pedestrians carry canes and even those that do
ultimately depend on sound cues to guide themselves through an environment.
"Blind pedestrians using a guide dog or cane are largely dependent on the
sounds of traffic to cross streets safely" which is why it is "'very
important to be able to gather auditory and tactile cues from there
environment'" (Flandez B.1.).  As for my dad, he walks around in our
neighborhood without his cane or someone to guide him occasionally, so to
say that drivers can easily spot blind pedestrians because they are all
carrying their white canes is simply not true.  Like I stated before, it is
not only blind pedestrians that are affected by silent hybrids.  Children,
bicyclists, and the elderly are at risk as well.  No one wants to lose their
child, best friend, or grandmother because they could not hear the vehicle
speeding towards them.  Additionally, I do not believe that putting a simple
sound device on a silent vehicle will dramatically decrease car sales.  In
fact, I am sure that most of the population would want a vehicle that makes
some noise after they learn about this safety threat.

So, are you going to wait until people have been killed before this issue is
addressed?  Spokeswoman Rachel Konrad from Tesla says that they will not add
a sound device "unless there is 'a compelling reason'" (Woodard 3b.).  My
father says that a lot of people have been saying, "'well, no body's been
killed'.at first they were telling us, 'show us the bodies,' which is just
crazy.  Why do we need to wait for somebody to be killed before we pass a
law?" (Smith).  Also, Gary Wunder, a member of NFB's Committee on Automobile
and Pedestrian Safety says, "we want to get ahead of this and not have to
wait until five blind people end up seriously hurt or dead" (Flandez B.1.).
So I ask Tesla and other reluctant auto companies; what is this compelling
reason-someone in the hospital?  Or is it someone in a casket?

The NFB is still pursuing Bills HR734 and S841 which will require automakers
of silent hybrids to make cars with a consistent sound to alert people of
their presence (Smith).  Wonderfully, some groups have also been attempting
to make a difference.  General Motors is collaborating with the National
Federation of the Blind to work on making their new electric vehicles
produce enough noise for pedestrians to hear and identify (Woodyard 3b.).
Furthermore, a study that the University of California conducted in 2008
showed "people listening in a lab could correctly detect a gas-powered car's
approach when it was twenty-eight feet away."  Amazingly, when the hybrid
vehicle was tested in "silent battery mode" people could not detect its
approach until they were a mere seven feet away (Motavalli).  Seven feet is
not enough distance for a moving vehicle to completely stop before hitting a
pedestrian.  Also, "several guide dog schools are planning to use hybrid
vehicles when training animals to acclimate them."  For example, Guide Dogs
for the Blind, Incorporated has started using "electric golf carts [when
training their dogs] to simulate the quite cars" (Flandez B.1.).  These bold
actions do not have to stop here though.  Things like addressing this issue
at a local automotive dealer or simply informing the people around us can
help turn this issue into a solution.

All pedestrians should feel safe when walking outside and because blind
people have a slight disadvantage when crossing the street, they should feel
safer than sighted people.  I am truly excited for environmentally friendly
vehicles to expand their presence on the road, but I am not looking forward
to the threat they pose if they are not equipped with a sound device.  I am
not a member of Congress nor do I hold any government position, so my goal
is to inform as many people as I can about the dangers of having silent
vehicles and urge them to do the same.  All I ask is to remember my father,
his wife, and his two daughters the next time you are considering a silent
hybrid that is not equipped with a sound device.

For more information, visit www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org/> . 

Works Cited

Fairbankes, Amanda. "Can You Hear My Prius Now?" New York Times (2008):
ED24.

EbscoHost. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.

Flandez, Raymund. "Blind Pedestrians Say Quiet Hybrids Post Safety Threat."
Wall

Street Journal 13 Feb. 2007, eastern ed.: B.1. EbscoHost. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.

Motavalli, Jim. "Hybrid Cars May Include Fake Vroom For Safety." New York
Times

(2009). EbscoHost. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.

"Quiet Hybrids Don't Suite Everyone." Noise and Vibration Worldwide 38.3
(2007): 16.

EbscoHost. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.

Smith, J.W.. Personal interview. 17 Feb. 2010.

Stover, Dawn. "To Vroom or Not to Vroom?" Popular Science 275.4 (2009): 37.

EbscoHost. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.

Woodyard, Chris. "GM Works to Make Some Noise: Blind Federation Helps to
Make

Now-Silent Electric Cars Safer." USA Today 25 Nov. 2009: 3b. EbscoHost. Web.

16 Feb. 2010.