[Quietcars] NHTSA Administrator on Rule

[David Evans]

Dear Bob and All,

As an engineer, and a Blind pedestrian.  I need cars, electric or otherwise, 
to sound like a car.
In that way, I and others, will be best able to identify and judge whether 
the vehicle is stopped, or moving and maybe even how fast it is moving or if 
it is turning or even going away from us.
I, an every pedestrian, Blind or sighted, deserves the have the best 
protection we can provide to keep us safe as we walk about and cross 
streets.
Crossing streets is one of the biggest fears that most Blind people have.
There is, and always will be, an element of luck and chance involved in 
crossing any street.  As the Blind depend upon our hearing, to a much higher 
degree than do others, it is incumbent upon the government to see to it we 
have what we need to remain as safe as we can.  I do not believe that we can 
just hope and trust the good intentions of the auto manufacturers to protect 
our interest first.
I do not want your electric car to sound like the "good Humor" man selling 
his ice cream.
I don't want it to sound like a loud awful piece of machinery either.
I just want it to make enough sound that I can clearly recognize it as a 
car, tell if it is approaching, stopped or maybe turning.

I want to be able to hear a car, of any type, electric or not, coming from 
at least a distance of 250 feet.
At least then I think that I can make a judgment as to whether it is safe to 
cross or not.
I hopefully will not have them surprising me in parking lots and at 
driveways either.
I had one lady almost back over me in her Toyoda and did not stop until I 
hammered on the roof and back window after dropping my cane and climbing on 
the back of her car.  My cane was sticking halfway out in front of her car 
when she finally stopped.  Guess where I would have been if I had not had 
the quick reaction to climb upon the back of the car and just let my cane 
go.  If she had backed up faster than she did, I would have been injured for 
sure other than just my nerves.
I think that using sounds that we can already identify and are some what use 
to is the best approach and testing, in real life situations should be used 
to make sure it works and provides the best warning we can have.
Nothing will ever be 100% safe, but we must do the best we can, for as many 
as we can.
Putting a bell on the cat seems to be the best way of dealing with this 
situation.
Outside of the U.S.A., only the U.K. and Spain seem to have Blind 
populations that are taken seriously when it raises a issue about anything.
The U.K. still has no standards for access nor many Rights at all for the 
protection of the Blind or Disabled.
We, here in the U.s. , were to first to raise the issue, which is now being 
recognized and talked about in other countries, including Japan.
I for one, will welcome some standards that will be the same, I hope, where 
ever I go or travel.

David Evans, NFBF and GD Jack.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Wilson" <bwilson4web at hotmail.com>
To: <quietcars at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 7:22 AM
Subject: [Quietcars] NHTSA Administrator on Rule



Hi,

This article about implementing S.841 showed up in my Google news alert:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/putting-vroom-back-into-electric-cars/

"The government today made it official – those quiet electric and
hybrid cars should sound more like – well – more like their
conventional gas-powered cousins.
. . .
Researchers concluded the best solution was to ensure that electric and
hybrid vehicles emit the same sound as vehicles with an internal
combustion engine. They determined the sound should change as the car
speeds up and slows down – to give pedestrians and other motorists even
better audio clues about how the vehicle is moving. How to get that
manufactured sound? Researchers suggested actual recordings of
conventional cars, or a digitally reproduced alternative. As for how
loud those added sounds should be? The suggested decibel level has yet
to be determined.
. . ."

This means hybrid electrics and electric cars will be just as deadly as 
today's vehicles, no more nor less. As for implementation, the article goes 
on to state:

". . .
By law, the government must start its final rule-making by next summer,
with a final rule in place by January 2014. Makers of electric and
hybrid vehicles will have three years to phase in the noise
requirements. By September of 2017, all new hybrid and electric cars
will have to turn up the decibels."

The NHTSA final report on the nature of sound is here:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crash%20Avoidance/Technical%20Publications/2011/811496.pdf

Quieter Cars and the Safety of Blind Pedestrians, Phase 2: Development of 
Potentical Specifications for Vehcile Countermeasure Sounds" - DOT HS 811 
496

Instead of making hybrids and electric cars safer than today's cars, they 
will simply be just as deadly and that is a shame. For example, this weekend 
I was driving home from an out of town trip and there was an accident on the 
opposite side of the Interstate but I have learned this is the time I must 
be on maximum alert for the traffic in my lanes because curious drivers slow 
down and stop  of paying 100% attention to their local traffic, they lack 
the self-discipline to keep driving.

Accident avoidance systems don't look at other accidents but stare with 
never blinking, never distracted, cold, calculating cameras and radars at 
the surrounding traffic and pedestrians. They react at computer, not human 
speeds this converts fender-benders into misses and fatal and injury 
accidents into a bad bump.

I was concerned that David McCurdy and the Automotive Alliance might get 
hybrids and electric cars to sound like 'ice cream' trucks or some clown 
tune. An organization that gets 98-99% of their funding from gas-only 
powered cars would love to get more hybrid sales by making them sound silly 
to prospective buyers. But synthetic engine noise is the least objectionable 
approach and as I've pointed out in the past, makes them just as deadly as 
today's gas powered cars.

Bob Wilson

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