[Quietcars] David Strickland at SAE Safety, April 15

[michael townsend]

Thanks for this.  

And, as news reported this morning on the Toyota front, some of which
involves hybrids, supposedly 16.8 million dollars is going to be paid out by
Toyota in a settlement in this runaway acceleration suit.  More as it's
available.  

Mike T

 

-----Original Message-----
From: quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Robert Wilson
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 9:02 AM
To: quietcars at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Quietcars] David Strickland at SAE Safety, April 15


Hi,

I didn't see anyone post this article:

http://detnews.com/article/20100416/AUTO01/4160349/NHTSA-chief-talks-safety-
at-SAE-World-Congress

"NHTSA chief talks safety at SAE World Congress David Shepardson and Alisa
Priddle / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Federal regulators are moving quickly to make near-silent hybrid
vehicles safe for pedestrians, avoid backing-up accidents and minimize
driver distraction.

Quiet electric and hybrid vehicles "could potentially put pedestrians at
risk, especially blind pedestrians," said National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration head David Strickland.

At the Society of Automotive Engineers' annual World Congress, Strickland
said Thursday that data from 12 states "shows that hybrid electric vehicles
do have a significantly higher incidence rate of pedestrian crashes than
internal combustion engines for certain maneuvers -- like slowing or
stopping, backing up, entering or leaving a parking space, and making a
turn."

. . .

Other safety experts at the conference urged NHTSA to move cautiously.

When it comes to safety improvements, "be careful what you wish for," said
David Champion, senior director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports.

"You have to look at the consequences of improving one aspect of a vehicle
that it doesn't harm another."

For example, wider pillars may prevent roofs from crushing in rollover
accidents, Champion said, but they may impede drivers' vision.

Also, he noted, Ford Motor Co. made changes in its Escape between 2001 and
2008 that improved fuel efficiency, but the vehicle had a longer stopping
distance when the driver hit the brakes.

Safety should not be an option, but standard and global, said Beth
Schwarting, a vice president with Delphi Electronics and Safety.

James Vondale, director of Ford's automotive safety office, said he is
concerned there will be a dual system of regulations: one U.S. and one for
everyone else."

NOTE: Some of us have read the flawed, NHTSA report and noted that vehicle
registrations were not used to calculate the rates. So this report counted
incidents and tried to draw conclusions without measuring the true risks.
Worse, pickup trucks and SUVs were not part of the study. Other reports
including one by the NHTSA indicate that when pedestrian accident rates by
type of vehicle are used, noisy pickups and SUVs predominate.

Bob Wilson
 		 	   		  
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