[Quietcars] Passenger defeatable systems.

[Deborah Kent Stein]

Dear Mike,

Those of us who've been working on the "quiet car legislation" for the past 
several years are concerned with precisely the issues you raise.  The fact 
that the two major manufacturing consortiums have signed on - the Alliance 
of Automobile Manufacturers and the Alliance of International Automobile 
Manufacturers - reflects the fact that people in the industry share our goal 
of establishing a universal standard.  The level of co-operation we have 
obtained thus far has been very encouraging.  This even holds true in 
Congress - the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (HR734 and its Senate 
counterpart, S841), as a stand-alone bill, was one of the most bipartisan 
bills making its way through the legislature.  May this support continue in 
the critical weeks and months to come!

Debbie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "michael townsend" <mrtownsend at optonline.net>
To: <quietcars at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2010 10:31 AM
Subject: [Quietcars] Passenger defeatable systems.


> David, as a car nut, and I'll leave my love of cars at that, I've never
> driven, though I know the mechanics of it.  I've never owned a car, though
> I've worked on friends' cars as a hobby and as a very high interest.
>
> As a person who understands such things as defeatable systems, i.e., the
> flawed attempts of the auto industry who made seatbelts able to be gotten
> around by consumers in the 1970s, I know about which you speak to this 
> point
> of "defeatable" systems.
>
> I remember that weight on a seat triggered a buzzer, and a rather annoying
> one at that, in most American cars, which, if one looked for a wire 
> harness
> underneath the seat, one could "defeat that system" in seconds.  A simple
> coupler was used and if you pinched a fastener and pulled it out of a 
> female
> holder,  you had no more seatbelt warning system.
>
> Some more expensive models coupled the seatbelt activation systems to the
> ignition, and they could be gotten around as well, though with a bit more
> difficulty.
>
> I think that any warning system should be audible, activated with
> nondefeatable sensors at the four corners of the car, and there should be 
> a
> pleasant, yet discernable tone that would not be mistaken for anything 
> else,
> and that this same warning system and tone should be mandated across the
> board.
>
> I'm saying that BMW, Mercedes and GM, as well as the Japanese counterparts
> should use the same system, so that one wouldn't have to confuse a warning
> sound with another street sound, or have to define a Toyota from a Volvo
> from a Chevy.
>
> So far, I don't think that this has been proposed, and correct me if I'm
> wrong on this.  And, this may be the downfall of the proposed legislative
> effort.  This is a really great cause, but things like this have a way of
> blocking things from passage.
>
> You see, we can't get senators and congress to agree on spending bills, 
> Wall
> Street reform or even proposed standards as they relate to service or 
> guide
> animals.
>
> I applaud the efforts of each blindness org and automotive group who's
> fought for such legislation, but the hard part is just getting  started.
>
> And, congress and the senate have to remove themselves and their selfish,
> political needs and wants from the needs ad wants of the average Joe or
> Jill; something which I am afraid that neither party has been willing to 
> so
> accomplish, regardless of whose administration has been in office!
>
> Mike
> T
>
>
> "I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself...but I 
> think
> I have
> a right to resent, to object to, libelous statements about my dog."
> -Franklin D. Roosevelt
> Mike Townsend and Seeing Eye dog Brent
> Dunellen, New Jersey  08812
> emails:  mrtownsend at optonline.net;
> michael.townsend54 at gmail.com
> Home Phone:  732  200-5643
> Cellular:  732  718-9480
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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