[Quietcars] David Strickland at SAE Safety, April 15
Deborah Kent Stein
dkent5817 at att.net
Mon Apr 19 14:32:42 UTC 2010
Thanks for posting this.
Debbie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Wilson" <bwilson4web at hotmail.com>
To: <quietcars at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 8:01 AM
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
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox.
> http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_3
> _______________________________________________
> Quietcars mailing list
> Quietcars at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/quietcars_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Quietcars:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/quietcars_nfbnet.org/dkent5817%40worldnet.att.net
More information about the QuietCars
mailing list