[Missouri-l] Fw: [Quietcars] From yesterday's USA Today

[Chip Hailey]

> 
> http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2009/11/620001194/1
> ****
> Hybrid cars hit pedestrians and bikers more often than conventional  
> cars, study finds
> 
> Hybrid vehicles, which creep along almost silently at low speeds on  
> electric power, are more likely to hit pedestrians or bicycles than  
> regular cars, a
> study by the
> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
> finds.
> 
> The report (see it by
> clicking here
> ) is sure to give a boost to the movement to require hybrid cars to  
> include noisemakers so that bikers, pedestrians -- especially the  
> blind -- know they
> are coming. Several makers already say they have
> such a system on the way.
> 
> The NHTSA report was actually done about a month ago, but didn't come  
> to light until it was
> reported by  Consumer Reports last week
> . It compared the rate of accidents among hybrid vehicles and powered  
> only by gas engines when it comes to pedestrians and bikes. Said  
> Consumer Reports
> on its blog:
> 
> block quote
> NHTSA looked at state-level crash files to compare crash rates on  
> these two types of vehicles. Out of 8,387 hybrids 77 (or 0.9%) were  
> involved in crashes
> with pedestrians. Out of 559,703 conventional vehicles studied, 3,578  
> (or 0.6%) were involved in crashes with pedestrians. In crashes  
> involving bicyclists,
> 48 (or almost 0.6%) were involved in crashes with a hybrid vehicle  
> whereas conventional vehicles were implicated in 1,862 (or 0.3%) of  
> crashes.
> 
> block quote end
> 
> It's a shame in a way. For decades, automakers have been trying to  
> figure out how to make cars quieter. So finally they come up with  
> vehicles so quiet that
> about the only sounds is the gravel crushing under the wheels and, lo  
> and behold, it could be too dangerous because no one can hear it coming.
> 
> So the question is, how to create the proper hybrid noisemaker? Should  
> it be a high-tech, spaceship sound? Maybe make it kind of a white  
> noise like a TV
> that doesn't work? Once Drive On heard a car coming a half-mile away.  
> When it came into sight, it was a 1963 Chevrolet Impala low-rider  
> blaring Led Zeppelin
> from a pair of forward-aimed speakers. Thought it was pretty cool at  
> the time.