[Nfbf-l] Fw: The State | 08/24/2010 | Prius gets sound option to protect pedestrians

[Patricia A. Lipovsky]

----- Original Message ----- 
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 9:57 PM
Subject: The State | 08/24/2010 | Prius gets sound option to protect 
pedestrians



>Prius gets sound option to protect pedestrians
>
>   By YURI KAGEYAMA
>   AP Business Writer
>
>   Toyota's Prius hybrid is becoming a little less quiet with a new
>   electronic humming device that is the automaker's answer to complaints
>   that pedestrians can't hear the top-selling car approaching.
>
>   The 12,600 yen ($148) speaker system that goes under the hood of the
>   third-generation Prius sets off a whirring sound designed to be about
>   the same noise level as a regular car engine so that it isn't
>   annoying, Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday.
>
>   It goes on sale Aug. 30 in Japan, and owners pay extra for
>   installation charges. Its use is voluntary.
>
>   Overseas sales plans are still undecided, but Toyota is studying
>   regulations and considering offering it in the U.S. and other markets,
>   said spokeswoman Monika Saito.
>
>   The gasoline-electric hybrid gets good mileage but is also quiet
>   because it runs as an electric car much of the time. That advantage
>   has drawn complaints that pedestrians, the blind in particular, are at
>   greater risk of being hit by the car, especially at low speeds.
>
>   The U.S. government's auto safety agency found in a research report
>   last year that hybrids are twice as likely to be involved in
>   pedestrian crashes at low speeds compared with cars with conventional
>   engines.
>
>   Toyota, which also makes the Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, said
>   it plans versions of the device for other hybrid models, plug-ins,
>   electric vehicles and fuel-cell vehicles.
>
>   Pedestrian deaths compared to overall traffic fatalities are higher in
>   Japan than in the U.S. and many other nations because of Japan's
>   narrow and crisscrossing crowded streets. Japan is also a rapidly
>   aging society, making audible cars critical.
>
>   Toyota said the device is based on guidelines addressing the dangers
>   of silent cars, including hybrids, issued in January by the Japanese
>   government.
>
>   Other automakers, including General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and
>   Nissan Motor Co., are also working on countermeasures to make quiet
>   ecological cars safer.
>
>   The Prius device's humming is so soft it is barely audible in a noisy
>   street but can be a lifesaver in quieter environments. It can be
>   turned off with a switch but goes on automatically every time the car
>   starts.
>
>   The Prius has been the top-selling car in Japan for the past 15 months
>   straight, benefiting from incentives designed to boost sales of green
>   cars.
>
>   Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, has sold nearly 337,000
>   third-generation Prius cars in Japan. It has sold more than 2.68
>   million hybrids around the world so far, a million of them in Japan.
>
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