[Quietcars] Prius gets sound option to protect pedestrians

[David Andrews]

>
>>Prius gets sound option to protect pedestrians
>>
>>   By YURI KAGEYAMA
>>   AP Business Writer
>>
>>   Toyota's Prius hybrid is becoming a little less quiet with a new
>>   electronic humming device that is the automaker's answer to complaints
>>   that pedestrians can't hear the top-selling car approaching.
>>
>>   The 12,600 yen ($148) speaker system that goes under the hood of the
>>   third-generation Prius sets off a whirring sound designed to be about
>>   the same noise level as a regular car engine so that it isn't
>>   annoying, Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday.
>>
>>   It goes on sale Aug. 30 in Japan, and owners pay extra for
>>   installation charges. Its use is voluntary.
>>
>>   Overseas sales plans are still undecided, but Toyota is studying
>>   regulations and considering offering it in the U.S. and other markets,
>>   said spokeswoman Monika Saito.
>>
>>   The gasoline-electric hybrid gets good mileage but is also quiet
>>   because it runs as an electric car much of the time. That advantage
>>   has drawn complaints that pedestrians, the blind in particular, are at
>>   greater risk of being hit by the car, especially at low speeds.
>>
>>   The U.S. government's auto safety agency found in a research report
>>   last year that hybrids are twice as likely to be involved in
>>   pedestrian crashes at low speeds compared with cars with conventional
>>   engines.
>>
>>   Toyota, which also makes the Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, said
>>   it plans versions of the device for other hybrid models, plug-ins,
>>   electric vehicles and fuel-cell vehicles.
>>
>>   Pedestrian deaths compared to overall traffic fatalities are higher in
>>   Japan than in the U.S. and many other nations because of Japan's
>>   narrow and crisscrossing crowded streets. Japan is also a rapidly
>>   aging society, making audible cars critical.
>>
>>   Toyota said the device is based on guidelines addressing the dangers
>>   of silent cars, including hybrids, issued in January by the Japanese
>>   government.
>>
>>   Other automakers, including General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and
>>   Nissan Motor Co., are also working on countermeasures to make quiet
>>   ecological cars safer.
>>
>>   The Prius device's humming is so soft it is barely audible in a noisy
>>   street but can be a lifesaver in quieter environments. It can be
>>   turned off with a switch but goes on automatically every time the car
>>   starts.
>>
>>   The Prius has been the top-selling car in Japan for the past 15 months
>>   straight, benefiting from incentives designed to boost sales of green
>>   cars.
>>
>>   Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, has sold nearly 337,000
>>   third-generation Prius cars in Japan. It has sold more than 2.68
>>   million hybrids around the world so far, a million of them in Japan.
>>
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