[Quietcars] Belling the Cat: The Long Road to the Passage of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, The Braille Monitor, June 2011

[michael townsend]

Thanks for your most interesting coverage, bob.  There ain't no perfect car,
nor perfect driver and it is going to be a merger between driver,
manufacturer and pedestrian that will make the difference.  
Cars can'
T do it all, and all of the warning devices and add-ons tend to lull the
driver into a false sense of security.  
Cruise control, I believe, is one of the worst offenders, as if the driver
has little to do to keep their concentration on things going on behind the
wheel, they will fall asleep; I have ridden in a car where this happened.  



These bells and whistles don't absolve the blind person of any fault; in
fact, it may make the case that we have to be more on our feet, whether we
use a dog guide or a stick or neither on the streets.  

Again, I appreciate your effort and explanations.
 


"It isn't pollution that is hurting the environment,
it's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
-Dan Quayle

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
 
-----Original Message-----
From: quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Robert Wilson
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2011 2:34 AM
To: quietcars at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Quietcars] Belling the Cat: The Long Road to the Passage of
the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, The Braille Monitor, June 2011


Hi Ken,
Just some thoughts to share:

>  2. pressing all states that do not yet collect pedestrian accident> data
that identifies whether the vehicle is an AFV, to do so. 
1) Fatal Accident Report System (FARS) already collects this data for
fatalities. Those who have looked at the data know why FARS data was not
used to justify "Belling the Hybrid" because the fatality rate is not high
enough to show a risk. As the earlier article pointed out, this was treated
as something to avoid when the early meetings were held.
Quoting from the article:"I spoke with the head of a grassroots consumer
protection organization that had a strong history of advocacy on safety
issues. "How many people have been killed so far?" he asked bluntly. I said
we didn't know, but we didn't want to wait for a body count. "You won't get
anywhere until you have statistics," he told me. "You've got to have
casualties before you can get anything done.""
Since 2003, over 4,000 pedestrians have died every year, conservatively,
32,000 dead and at least 3-4 times more injured. The vast majority killed
and injured by today's ordinary vehicles that with S.841 will make hybrids
just as lethal.
2) DOT HS 811 204, September 2009 - has successfully supported passage of
S.841. Collecting more data risks changing the results considering it used
19 turning and 7 backing incidents to make the claims of a higher risk from
hybrids. DOT HS 811 204 played a math trick and I suspect further data is
less likely to support the claims made. For example, if Prius fatal accident
data from just 2001-2005 were used, the Prius would have been shown more
deadly than the USA fleet. But by 2007, the rate was half the USA fleet
because of the larger population and sample set. DOT HS 811 204 was limited
to a ten state sample set and made claims that any undergraduate, statistics
student would be able to see the flaws. Fortunately for S.841, Congress
doesn't have many undergraduate statisticians.
3) Google news is another source of Prius accident data. I've been
collecting reports to identify accidents where sound might have made a
difference. The FARS data does not include the circumstances and by the time
the data is available, detailed reports are hard to find. It has been an
education.
> Also, I am wondering what advice we should have "out there" for > those
conscientious drivers who want to be environmentally responsible> and
concerned about pedestrian safety, when they go car shopping. 
One of the great misconceptions has been that hybrid owners are alturistic,
socially concerned and suckers for inflated use of the term "green." This
was and remains the great hubris of GM, Chrysler and the European
manufactures who delayed their entry into the serious, high mileage hybrid
market. For example, I remember one European paper that claimed the Prius
was just 'clever marketing'. Then there was the claim that the Hummer costs
less per mile than the Prius. Such false claims about hybrids and hybrid
owners have been very easy to find and most often believed by those who have
another agenda. But gas at $3.50-$4.00/gallon has finally knocked some sense
into some skeptics.
You might consider another model for hybrid buyers. We may just want to cut
our recurring, gasoline bills. For example, my last fill-up was $35, and I
do this every 3-4 weeks instead of every 1-2 weeks with my previous car. I
have co-workers who spend $70 each week. 
In 2008, I read the special report on back-over accidents that led to The
Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act. It makes a compelling case for
a backup camera. So two weeks ago, I spent just under $900 to install an
after-market, rear view mirror that includes a backup camera, hands-free
cell phone interface and GPS. Having had several backing incidents, the
economies are obvious.
Sad to say, the first, forward looking, accident avoidance system turned out
to be a bust. But I'm still shopping because I read every Prius accident
report in Google. I am seeing a pattern of lane departure and failure to
detect objects in front of the car. Not every accident can be avoided but as
I collect the raw numbers, the preliminary data suggests it is close to 1/3
of all Prius accidents. Accident reports show that avoidance systems and
lane following would improve the safety of my car and one successful
operation would more than pay for the cost.
> Does anyone know of any research yet on what I call, "The Roulette Wheels"
> technique?  A small metal object such as a nut or ball bearing, is placed
loose > inside each of the vehicle's four hubcaps.  . . .
You might do the research by checking out the wheels of a Prius or Honda
hybrid. The Toyota and Honda hybrids use alloy wheels with thick, metal
spokes and air-gaps and this is how we can tell the different Prius models
from photos. The 2004-09 Prius has six, web-like spokes, bar-shaped, a
little over three inches wide with pizza pie piece shaped gaps in-between.
The 2010-current Prius has five, wedge shaped spokes slighty at an angle
that are about five inches wide at the rim and just under three inches wide
at the hub with air-gaps. The wheel covers are segmented, plastic parts that
fit but do not seal. Any loose objects between the wheel and wheel cover
simply falls out the gaps. 
Bob Wilson


 		 	   		  
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