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Blog: Gadgets Blind Pedestrians Balk at "Silent" Hybrids
Brandon Hill (Blog) - February 15, 2007 10:01 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 20 comment(s) - last by oTAL.. on Feb 21 at 8:09 PM

"And if you could say anything about hybrid drivers, they are more aware of their surroundings than other drivers." -- Sev MacPete, founder of the Toyota Prius Club of San Diego
The National Federation of the Blind wants hybrids to produce artificial noise to aid blind pedestrians

The topic of hybrids is often a touchy subject here on DailyTech. Whenever a hybrid article is posted, a line is usually drawn right down the middle in the comments section -- you have one side that defends the spread of hybrids and you have the other side that balks at the thought of thousands of used batteries ending up in the landfill while championing diesel technology.

Well, it appears that there is another reason to dislike hybrids, but this time the fingers are being pointed by blind pedestrians. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, many blind pedestrians are sounding off on the quiet nature of hybrid vehicles in city traffic.

Unlike typical gasoline or diesel powered vehicles, hybrids don't need an internal combustion engine running at all times. In city traffic at low speeds, hybrids like the Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid can putt along on battery power alone. This makes the vehicles relatively quiet amongst the background noise of a city street.

According to figures from dangerousdecibels.org, a Prius generated 53 decibels under acceleration (using just its electric motor). This compares favorably to a typical conversation in your home which would register at about 50 decibels. However, your typical busy city street registers at 90 decibels and a garbage truck registers at 100 decibels.

"I'm an environmentalist, and I'm all for quiet cars. But it poses a particular problem for somebody who has no vision," Michael Osborn, a blind marketing consultant from California. Osborn had a close encounter with Prius, but was saved by his guide dog that stopped short as they were crossing an intersection. "Half an inch and it would have hit us ... it wasn't making any noise," continued Osborn.

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has a solution to the problem: they suggest that all hybrid vehicles (and presumably hydrogen fuel cell and all-electric vehicles) should emit noise under power that would help blind pedestrians be aware of their surroundings. "We want to get ahead of this and not have to wait until five blind people end up seriously hurt or dead," said Gary Wunder of the NFB Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety.

Not surprisingly, many in the auto industry have actually taken the concerns very seriously. In fact, Charles Territo of the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers says that he wasn't even aware that this was a pressing issue.

Likewise, Bill Kwong, a spokesman for Toyota, also wasn't aware of the concerns over "quiet" hybrids. "One of the benefits of the vehicles is that they don't contribute to traffic noise," said Kwong.

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No solution
By masher2 (blog) on 2/15/2007 12:43:34 PM , Rating: 4
Sound or not, a blind person in the street when a car passes will be in danger. Personally, I like the idea of our city streets being far quieter one day, due to the elimination of the internal combustion engine. Artificially generating noise is no solution at all.




RE: No solution
By vdig on 2/15/2007 1:10:17 PM , Rating: 4
Once again, I do not hear much other than what the problem is. The blind can not hear these silent cars coming until they are hit. I have read this a few times before already. I recognize that this is a very serious issue that needs to be dealt with. Such a shame I don't hear of many solutions.

The prevalent solution I have read elsewhere was that vehicles ought to generate a sound, the most suggested being that they use the sounds of horse hoofs clopping down the road. My take is that this particular sound would be, personally, quite disgusting. In fact, I do not like the idea that the cars generate such audio at all.

My recommendation instead would be that specially made earpieces are designed so that the earpieces generate the vehicle sounds as the silent cars approach. The cars themselves will give off an RFID, or similar, signal that can be picked up by the earpieces, giving them the usual noise that would be produced by a normal car, which increases in volume as the car gets close, and moves away when the car passes. This way, the blind can hear the cars coming, while those who can see will still benefit from the cars actually being silent. There is enough air pollution in the air already, in my opinion.

...Wow. I can't believe that I recommended the use of RFID technology.


RE: No solution
By Enoch2001 on 2/15/2007 1:14:51 PM , Rating: 2
so... did the dog tell him it was a hybrid too?


RE: No solution
By vdig on 2/15/2007 1:20:00 PM , Rating: 2
Dog sees oncoming.
Dog stops.
Pedestrian stops with dog instead of continuing onward.
Blind pedestrian feels the vehicle's draft as it passes right on by.
Blind man realizes he had a close call.
Blind man puts two and two together (No sound emission, definitely a vehicle, compares to available techs.)
Blind man calls it a hybrid, which may or may not be 100% true, but the gist of the problem is understood. (It can also be a Hydrogen Cell, Electric only vehicle)


RE: No solution
By Captain Orgazmo on 2/17/2007 8:33:46 PM , Rating: 2
Better scenario: Draft of passing vehicle was actually a regular car with a manual transmission sitting on a hill in neutral whose parking brake released and it zipped by not making a sound. How else would you explain that the driver did not see the man, his cane, and the dog crossing the street? If he didn't see them, then he would have hit them, noise or not.


RE: No solution
By Russell on 2/15/2007 2:14:12 PM , Rating: 2
A better solution: let's just cure blindness already. Come on medicine, you can do it!


RE: No solution
By vdig on 2/15/2007 2:22:02 PM , Rating: 2
I am sure that is the better solution. However, that breakthrough will take longer to develop. I am all for the curing of the blind though.

Really, while I can think of solutions for the sound of oncoming vehicles, I can't really describe any solutions for blindness. High res video camera tied into the... whatever it is called that receives images? Honestly, I can't quite fully fathom it, because my knowledge of the human body's ocular mechanics is just not good enough, and I can't just rip open someone's eyes just to experiment, can I?

Before you ask, no, I will not try on my own either. There is a few things called pain and blindness that I will not want to endure, thank you.


RE: No solution
By Le Québécois on 2/16/2007 3:32:13 PM , Rating: 2
A bling person ability to "see" with its ears doesn't come only from the fact that they have better hearing but only from the fact that they learn to pinpoint with more accuracy than a non-blind person. Until we can make earpieces with the precision they need, I don't think that will help them that much. Still that idea is pointing in the right direction I think.


RE: No solution
By othercents on 2/17/2007 1:40:14 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah your right. The ear piece will not help the blind person know what direction the car is coming from. You need to be able to get 3D type direction from the sound which is why admitting a sound from the car fits best. You can hear in many movies the high pitch whine of an electric car and this might be the sound we hear from all cars in the future.

Other


c'mon people, the world isn't perfect
By hellokeith on 2/15/2007 3:42:15 PM , Rating: 4
Blind people want to change all US currency because they can't see it and don't know the difference between the bills. They want to change major retailer websites because the websites use flash and their readers don't work on them. Now they want to moan about hybrid vehicles not making enough noise???

Come on, people. The world is an imperfect place. Learn to adjust. I didn't sue the shoe company, couch company, and hardwood floor company when my knee got twisted and ligaments torn. Instead, I manned up and adjusted. My knee still hurts to this day and pops and clicks, but I don't have to whine to some bleeding heart media person about it.




By oTAL (blog) on 2/21/2007 8:09:38 PM , Rating: 2
This isn't a good example as I believe you are indeed correct on the current topic. As for the other ones you mentioned, I believe some thought and greater care into big decisions that affect everyone are always welcome.
Take money... Euros are VERY easy for the blind. You can fill the numbers, and you know that the larger the bill, the greater the value (all bills in different sizes). Same thing for coins...
Does that make the bills terribly more expensive? Probably not... plus it's another thing that makes them harder to fake (amongst many other technics). As long as you don't have to reshape society and harm the rest of us, thinking of handicapped people and their needs is ALWAYS a good thing to do.


What about bicycles, they're silent too
By thinairbikes on 2/18/2007 1:24:08 PM , Rating: 2
I guess this means I'll have to put a sound generator on my bicycles as well....

In my opinion, I think it comes down to the driver of the vehicle being aware of his/her surroundings, which unfortunately isn't the case with many drivers.




By dluther on 2/19/2007 8:27:21 AM , Rating: 3
Actually, I'm glad you posted that as I was about to.

However, one thing to take into consideration in this scenario is that bicycle accidents with pedestrians rarely result in fatalities.

While I'm sensitive to the needs of the blind and their plight with silent vehicles, here's a bit of perspective should firmly ensconce this debate in the "already solved" category: In all 50 states, the pedestrian always has the right of way. Coupled with zoning regulations that allow municipalities to erect signs and highly-visible crossing areas for even only one blind person, this "problem" should only occur in instances where one of two parties is acting in a reckless manner -- not paying attention, running a red light, or jaywalking.

We cannot make foolproof legislation; to do so will only invite nature to devise more ingenious fools.


Darwin's Theorgy
By maevinj on 2/16/2007 9:34:12 AM , Rating: 2
Applies here.




RE: Darwin's Theorgy
By Le Québécois on 2/16/2007 3:02:08 PM , Rating: 2
Well then we'll just hope that you don't have an accident and become blind and THEN be a victim of natural selection...

Silent cars making artificial noise is not the solution but I'm sure that someone will come up with a better idea soon.


Hit and run, baby. Hit and run.
By peldor on 2/16/2007 12:23:57 PM , Rating: 2
Hell, it's not like they can get my license plate.




RE: Hit and run, baby. Hit and run.
By jtesoro on 2/19/2007 9:58:35 AM , Rating: 2
I don't know whether to rate you down for cracking what some may call an insensitive joke, or rate you up because I think it's quite funny!


By rtrski on 2/15/2007 10:00:49 PM , Rating: 3
I don't know how many times I've had some moron in a parking lot just bolt out between the rows of cars, eyes focused on their own car or digging in purses or pockets and not paying attention, step right in front of me because when I'm toodling the lot looking for a parking place, I'm on electric and darn near silent.

Hazard for the blind, hell...sighted people who don't hear anything and therefore assume nothing is coming are all I've ever almost hit. I've learned to be extra *extra* careful in parking lots because of it.

And of course when they hear the brakes and/or I tap my horn lightly, they always glare at me like it's MY fault they're too effing stupid to pay attention.

At crosswalks and intersections, it's my responsibility as a driver to be yield to pedestrians. In parking lots it may not be my responsibility to yield in all cases, but I'm still cautious even when driving my Jetta (more so in the Prius). But no one has zero reaction time to avoid hitting the stupid who emerge directly from a blind spot like between parallel parked cars at the roadside....

Why not equip blind people with a hat with a collision avoidance radar? Doesn't contribute to noise or force everyone else to be responsible for them (except in as much as we should be responsible for yielding to all pedestrians where legally appropriate). No, *that* would be mocking them, wouldn't it?

Ramps for wheelchairs, audible crosswalk alerts, and the like are all appropriate leveling tools to assist the differently-abled (effing PC linguistics) to have the same freedoms as the 'average', and none of which harm those for whom the tool was not designed. But saddling noisemakers on quiet vehicles is penalizing the average. What's next...visible halogen-lamp "horns" so the deaf can 'hear' you honking??? Artificial smoke emitters so those who can't smell know your engine is running? Elite athletes carrying weights on the football field to level them with the 'average' players?




Have they listened to a modern car?
By etriky on 2/15/2007 2:37:50 PM , Rating: 2
The engine noise from any mainstream modern car running at city speeds (20-30 MPH) is virtually nonexistent. The tires are what generate most of the noise. And yes the hybrids/electric/hydrogen/batfuel/whatever-fuel cars still have tire noise. So I don't really have any idea what they're talking about. Apparently they don't get out much.




Blind Can hear Hybrids?
By AMLIscio on 2/15/2007 8:49:39 PM , Rating: 2
I am sorry for those people but as I understand they haven't complained about Bicycles, scooters, runners, Honda Civic,Insight or anything that moves without making loud noises, why pick on a My Toyota Prius, the only hi tech vehicle that gives them a chance to breath cleaner air than any gas powered vehicle. Isn't it a true FACT:
A blind person has better sense of Smell,Touch and HEARING than a sighted person. Check it out.




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