[Missouri-l] Fw: [Quietcars] Fwd: [Nfbv-leadership] GM to announce working with theblind to give electric cars a little noise

[Chip Hailey]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Corbb O'Connor" <corbbo at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of new quiet cars and pedestrian safety" 
<quietcars at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 26, 2009 3:40 PM
Subject: [Quietcars] Fwd: [Nfbv-leadership] GM to announce working with 
theblind to give electric cars a little noise


>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "John Bailey" <john_bailey17 at hotmail.com>
> Date: November 26, 2009 2:05:55 PM EST
> To: "NFB of Virginia Leadership List" <nfbv-leadership at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Nfbv-leadership] GM to announce working with the blind to
> give electric cars a little noise
> Reply-To: NFB of Virginia Leadership List <nfbv-leadership at nfbnet.org>
>
>
> GM to announce working with the blind to give electric cars a little
> noise
>
> By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
>
> General Motors
> will announce Wednesday that it's working with one of the largest
> advocacy organizations for the vision-impaired to find ways for the
> next-generation electric
> cars to make enough noise that pedestrians can hear them coming.
>
> GM says it's working with the National Federation of the Blind on
> technology to make sure that near-silent electric cars and hybrids
> don't sneak up on unsuspecting
> walkers or runners.
>
> It's potentially a growing problem as the nation switches to battery-
> powered cars as an alternative to high-priced gasoline. A bill that
> would direct the
> Transportation Department to regulate a solution - the Pedestrian
> Safety Enhancement Act - was introduced in Congress earlier this year.
>
> One study already points to dangers. Walkers and bicyclists are being
> struck at a greater rate by hybrid vehicles than by conventional cars,
> concluded the
> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in September.
>
> "I've had probably 25 blind people in the country tell me they've
> almost been hit by these cars," says NFB President Marc Maurer.
> Vehicles brushed up against
> some or crushed their white canes, he says.
>
> Maurer says he believes electric cars of the future will need to be
> equipped with a forward-directed sound device that operates without
> interruption while
> the car is in motion. All electric vehicles will have to make roughly
> the same artificial noise, he says, so that blind people will be able
> to distinguish
> them as moving vehicles.
>
> Automakers balk at going that far for the moment.
> Toyota
> , the largest producer of hybrid cars, says it is still studying the
> issue. So is
> Nissan
> , which plans to introduce the all-electric Leaf next year.
>
> GM already is equipping its new
> Chevrolet
> Volt extended-range electric car with a driver-activated warning
> system. The car will emit a short audible horn pulse about as loud as
> the ring of a telephone
> when the driver pulls back on the turn-signal switch.
>
> "We want to make sure it is something friendly and not startling,"
> says Volt's chief engineer, Andrew Farah. He says they already
> believed the sound had
> to be "clearly automotive" in nature. And the collaboration with the
> federation is aimed at seeing if something more is needed.
>
> Other automakers aren't so sure. Tesla, which already has sold about
> 900 all-electric Roadsters, is reluctant to make noise.
>
> "One of the top attributes that our customers bring up is that (the
> car) is so quiet," says spokeswoman Rachel Konrad. "The majority of
> the sound is not
> from the engine. It's tire noise and wind resistance."
>
> As a result, she says, Tesla is monitoring research and regulations
> around the issue as it might affect its $109,000 two-seater, but
> probably won't add
> a noisemaker unless there is a "compelling reason."
>
>
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