[Quietcars] Quiet hybrids: An end to their sounds of silence?Information Article

Tue Jul 6 14:51:19 UTC 2010

It's all too easy to allow whistles and bells to control our environment,
our mindset and then play the blame game if they don't work with automobile
companies and drivers.  

I think that a combination of techynolog7y versus good old fashioned
responsibility on both the driver and pedestrians part are the answers to
this question.  If we rely too heavily upon one or the other, it just ain't
gonna work.  Your approaches to this hybrid and quieter car, and I do mean
quieter car, issue works for me.  Thanks, bob, for your honesty,
level-headedness and insight. 

I am not, NOT downplaying any of the legislative efforts and work undertaken
by either the NFB or ACB and other organizations who are involved, but they
are missing the point completely when they don't do their homework and just
leave wild gaps in their research.  I realize that this goes against the
grain of organizational ideology of most blindness organizations in stating
facts that we as blind people have to own up to asking our organizations to
do both the research that is necessary for a complete and comprehensive
solution, and that often we accept mediocre solutions in order just to have
something.  But, these are my firm beliefs from which I can't stray.  

Mike T

-----Original Message-----
From: quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Robert Wilson
Sent: Monday, July 05, 2010 9:23 PM
To: quietcars at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Quietcars] Quiet hybrids: An end to their sounds of
silence?Information Article

Hi,

I was just reading this article about the new Volvo:
http://www.thecarconnection.com/marty-blog/1046844_2011-volvo-v60-wagon-make
s-debut

". . .
There's also an advanced Pedestrian Detection safety system that can detect
pedestrians who walk into the road in front of the car, warn the driver--and
automatically apply full braking power if the driver does not respond in
time. In an emergency situation the driver first receives an audible warning
combined with a flashing light in the windscreen's head-up display. At the
same time, the car's brakes are pre-charged. If the driver does not react to
the warning and an accident is imminent, full braking power is automatically
applied.
. . ."

This is the technology that the Sterns Amendment is walking away from.

Bob Wilson

> Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 11:32:09 -0400
> From: mrtownsend at optonline.net
> To: quietcars at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Quietcars] Quiet hybrids: An end to their sounds of silence?
Information Article
> 
> A really well written article that doesn't play the blame game as many 
> articles on this and other lists do.
> 
> Mike T in NJ
>   
> 
> Quiet hybrids: An end to their sounds of silence?
> 
> By KEN THOMAS
> July 4, 2010 - 9:18am
> 
> WASHINGTON (AP) - The age of the silent hybrid may be coming to an end.
> 
> Gas-electric hybrids, propelled by electric motors at low speeds, are 
> well-known for their quiet ride and great mileage. But their silence 
> isn't always golden.
> 
> Some researchers and safety groups say that quiet operation _ "hybrid
creep"
> _ can pose risks for unsuspecting pedestrians and the blind, who use 
> sound cues.
> 
> Advocates for the blind have sought the addition of artificial noises 
> in hybrids for several years, concerned that the expected sales growth 
> of hybrids could lead to more pedestrian fatalities and injuries. 
> Hybrids account for about 2 percent of new car sales each year but 
> auto companies are expected to boost production in advance of tougher 
> fuel efficiency standards this decade.
> 
> "This is an example of too much of a good thing," said John Pare, 
> executive director for strategic initiatives with the National 
> Federation of the Blind. "Cars got quieter, that was good. Suddenly 
> they got to be so quiet that it added an element of danger."
> 
> The government's auto safety agency said in a research report last 
> year that hybrid vehicles are twice as likely to be involved in 
> pedestrian crashes at low speeds compared with cars with conventional 
> engines. The study by the National Highway Traffic Safety 
> Administration examined circumstances in which the vehicles were 
> slowing down or coming to a stop, backing up or entering or departing a
parking space.
> 
> More than 4,300 pedestrians were killed in 2008, according to the most 
> recent data available. The government has been researching the safety 
> risks that hybrids and electrics could pose for pedestrians, 
> particularly the blind, along with the elderly and children, for 
> vehicles traveling at 20 mph or less. When a car is going faster, the 
> friction between the tire and the road's surface makes the vehicle louder.
> 
> The quiet hybrid phenomenon already has its place in pop culture. In 
> an episode of NBC's "The Office," paper salesman Andy Bernard uses his 
> stealthy blue Toyota Prius to sneak up on Dwight Schrute and pin his 
> bitter rival against a hedge. One concerned co-worker, watching the 
> unfolding drama, says "the Prius is silent if he keeps it under 5 miles
per hour."
> 
> Congress is heeding the warnings, adding sound performance 
> requirements for hybrids and electric cars to an auto safety bill 
> being considered after the massive Toyota recalls. Lawmakers could 
> consider the changes this summer and car companies most likely would 
> have to have the sounds ready to go three years after the release of new
government rules.
> 
> Automakers helped develop the proposal in Congress and are moving 
> forward with new artificial sounds that will be emitted from electric 
> cars and future hybrid models.
> 
> Nissan Motor Corp. has produced distinct sounds for the Leaf, the 
> electric car expected to go on sale this year, when the vehicle 
> accelerates or moves in reverse. When the Leaf speeds up to 20 mph, it 
> automatically will use a soft whirring sound that changes pitch as the 
> car accelerates. When the Leaf backs up, an intermittent bell will ring to
warn those nearby.
> 
> The Japanese automaker consulted with acoustic psychologists and 
> Hollywood sound designers to find a tone that addresses drivers, 
> pedestrians and the community.
> 
> "It was kind of like peeling back an onion. The more we worked on it, 
> the more issues came up, the more of a balancing act it became," said 
> Andy Christensen, a manager with Nissan's North American Technical 
> Center near Detroit. Nissan plans to use the sounds on the Infiniti 
> M35 hybrid to be released in 2012.
> 
> General Motors Co. wanted a more subtle chirp on its Chevrolet Volt, 
> so it chose an alert horn that lets the driver warn an unknowing
bystander.
> 
> "We didn't want to blast the horn at them and figuratively smack the 
> people in the nose," said Doug Moore, a vehicle performance engineer 
> for the Volt project. "We just wanted to tap them on the shoulder and 
> say, 'Hey I'm here.'"
> 
> Other automakers are hard at work, too.
> 
> Toyota Motor Corp., which makes the top-selling Prius hybrid, is 
> studying artificial sounds for hybrids when the vehicle is propelled 
> by its electric motor at low speeds. Ford Motor Co. is working to 
> bring external sounds to future hybrids and electrics, including its 
> Focus electric car, expected in 2011, and a next-generation hybrid and 
> plug-in hybrid vehicle planned for 2012.
> 
> Nancy Gioia, Ford's director of global electrification, said car 
> companies should consider standardizing tones from future hybrids and 
> electrics to avoid a cacophony of confusion on the streets.
> 
> "It can't be like cell phones where we all select our own sound and we 
> tune out everybody else's but our own," Gioia said.
> 
> Some green car advocates have questioned the need for the extra tones 
> and noted that the requirement could add more noise to neighborhoods. 
> Paul Scott, vice president of Plug In America, said the sounds could 
> help under certain circumstances, but drivers should have the right to 
> activate the tones.
> 
> "After hearing how innocuous the Nissan Leaf sound is, maybe it'll be 
> a minor irritant for us, but I suspect people will tire of it 
> eventually and seek ways to disable the noise," Scott said in an 
> e-mail from Japan, where he was test-driving the car.
> 
> Les Blomberg, who is the founder of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, 
> said reducing noise from the loudest vehicles, such as trucks, buses 
> and motorcycles, would increase the ability of pedestrians to detect
sound.
> Adding sounds to hybrids, however, would simply enhance noise 
> pollution and make it more difficult to hear an individual vehicle in
traffic.
> 
> 
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