[Quietcars] Passenger defeatable systems.

Sat May 29 00:16:07 UTC 2010

Well, let us hope so.  Now that 734 is part of the much larger bill, the 
climate may change, but so far it looks promising.

Debbie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "michael townsend" <mrtownsend at optonline.net>
To: "'Discussion of new quiet cars and pedestrian safety'" 
<quietcars at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, May 28, 2010 4:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Quietcars] Passenger defeatable systems.

>I would think that a bipartisan effort could continue, devoid of all of the
> bickering that has placed much of the decent legislative efforts in 
> jeopardy
> during the first 18 months of this administration.  Laughingly, people 
> were
> more reasonable under bush, which is scary.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
> On
> Behalf Of Deborah Kent Stein
> Sent: Friday, May 28, 2010 4:47 PM
> To: Discussion of new quiet cars and pedestrian safety
> Subject: Re: [Quietcars] Passenger defeatable systems.
>
>
>
> 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
>>
>>
>>
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