You just can't please everybody.....

shack

Maybe we need to make everybody play rap music with a couple of 12s in the trunk.....:rolleyes:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An association of blind Americans has warned that cars with hybrid engines using electricity and fuel are dangerously too quiet for pedestrians.

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) said hybrid cars pose a risk to the blind, children, the elderly, cyclists and distracted pedestrians.

The group said it conducted tests with blind people.

"We had the car drive by in different situations, to see wether or not people could hear it and use the sound of the car to safely cross the street, and they could not. The car was just silent," NFB spokesman John Pare told AFP.

Pare said NFB does not want to add to noise pollution, but hybrid cars should not be less noisy than other cars.

Chris Danielsen, a 36-year-old NFB member, said up to 30 people took part in tests on a side street and in an alleyway with a Toyota Prius and a Honda Civic.

"We all stood on the side of the street and the idea was to raise your hand as you heard the car approach," Danielsen said.

"We generally couldn't sense that it was there right in front of us, which of course, if we had been standing in the road, would have been running right over us," he said.

"By the time anybody detected it, if we had actually been standing in the road, it would have taken out three or four people."

Barbara Pries, a member of NFB's pedestrian security committee, said no blind person has been killed by a hybrid car but some have reported having near accidents.

"It's just a matter of time before people are going to get injured and killed," she said.

Nearly 4,900 pedestrians were killed in road accidents in the United Stats in 2005, according the government figures.

NFB said it contacted Toyota, Honda and Ford in vain to ask that a noise or signal could be added to their hybrids.

Toyota representatives said there were no current plans to change its hybrid but that it was looking into improving pedestrian safety.

"We are aware of this issue and studying a way to improve pedestrian safety. It's important that the solution doesn't add to noise pollution but is good for pedestrians," said Toyota spokeswoman Martha Voss.

But another Toyota spokesman, Xavier Dominici, said the trend was toward quieter cars and that people should start getting used to them.

"There is a lot of ambient noise and the trends toward quiet powertrains in all vehicle has raised the need for additional caution to be exercised by pedestrians and drivers as well," he said.

"Part of it is also acclimating your ear to that noise. Frankly the sound of an automobile is changing as more quiet powertrains and hybrid vehicles come to dominate the market," he said

I think it is real important that we do something to help out the distracted pedestrian....

Like help them get a clue and pay f***ing attention when you are on a road.

AdamRagland

yea i was watching Jay Leno a couple weeks ago and Diane Keaton ran over her dog because she drives a hybrid. Apparently he sleeps in the driveway and didnt hear the car coming. As to why she didnt see her dog in the driveway that i have no clue. I swear that was the fattest dog ive ever seen. Looked like a couch

steveinaz

Yet another attempt to please the vast minority at the cost of the majority. It's kinda part of the deal that life is a little tougher when you have a disability.

Shizelbs

Well, good luck to them on that one.

VR3

Shouldnt the person...driving the hybrid... pay attention to the fact that someone may be crossing the road???

Shizelbs

Sid, don't point out the logical aspect against their argument. Don't you know it totally ruins it?

zombie boy 2000

Well... now we finally have the answer to the age-old question "who will police the police?".... or rather "what will the protesters protest when there is nothing left to protest?"

Hippies protesting hybrids. Is it "Opposite Day" or has my alarm not gone off yet?

cfrizz

Sid & Shizelbs, WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! I was thinking the same thing. The bulk of the responsibility belongs on the driver!

VR3

I dunno...

Lets all protest mail pick up...

A blind person may be getting their mail, and the mailman may be driving a hybrid and may just flat run him over... since you know... the guy driving the car is obviously blind to because he dosnt stop for pedestrians.

Nur Nur Nuh Nur

People amaze me.

madmax

I've always thought a car should be loud enough to be noticed by the casual walker. The argument for this point is the same for why backup beepers are installed on comercial vehicles. (It is not obvious because of the sound that the vehicle is about to back up).

shack

madmax wrote:

I've always thought a car should be loud enough to be noticed by the casual walker. The argument for this point is the same for why backup beepers are installed on comercial vehicles. (It is not obvious because of the sound that the vehicle is about to back up).

Then we need to do something about bicycles as well. Those things make absoultely NO sound. They are a menace...

hearingimpared

Well I want something done about the drivers of cars who have their subwoofers blasting so loud that it makes my heart beat faster which will aggravate and trigger my panic disorder and cause me to have a panic attack and run out into the street in front of a hybrid vehicle while trying to get away (it's a panic thing) . . . Now who would I sue then, the kid blasting his music, or the hybrid owner or maybe my doctor who forgot to tell me that loud music coming from an automobile might make me run in front of a hybrid vehicle which of course I won't hear, never mind that in a panic you don't hear anything of coherence anyway. . . how about the drug company who's medication I take . . . it didn't stop the panic attack, I guess I'll sue them also. . .


GIVE ME AN EFFFING BREAK. . . what do these wackadoos do all day sit around trying to find rediculous **** to stir up and waste more of this country's . . . everything!!!

bobman1235

If a hybrid car nails a pedestrian in the woods, does it really make a sound?

Demiurge

bobman1235 wrote:

If a hybrid car nails a pedestrian in the woods, does it really make a sound?

Yeah, it's like a queef.

Serendipity

Amazing.

People are saving the environment and all they get is this?

markmarc

The law says that it is up to the driver to be aware of pedestrians at or entering crosswalks.
My aunt, who has been blind since birth and never expected anything from anybody other than fairness, I bet would say that her walking cane is a symbol for others to be aware. That includes cars, bicyclists, and other pedestrians.

wingnut4772

It'll be even more fun when the invisible electric car comes out.

dragon1952

How the hell often is there only one car on the road anyway? Generally there's going to be other traffic noise. I don't see that many instances where the only car on the road is electric. How about the people that drive golf carts around? Good freakin' grief. Why don't they just insist that we all install glasspacks. :rolleyes: I guess a few blind people are more important than the rest of the population and the entire planet's well-being.

dragon1952

wingnut4772 wrote:

It'll be even more fun when the invisible electric car comes out.

LOL!

MacLeod

It just does to show - no matter how good we have it here in this country, there will ALWAYS be victims. :rolleyes:

Beekyman

Loud pipes save lives!!

G-2

We think in Florida, those pedestrians may be taken (harvested) with the right permits

Face

Beekyman wrote:

Loud pipes save lives!!

You beat me to it!
IMO, every car should sound like this. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=713387634

Refefer

shack wrote:

Then we need to do something about bicycles as well. Those things make absoultely NO sound. They are a menace...

Playing cards in the spokes? We'll always know when a driveby bicycling is about to occur...

Early B.

I think it's a legitimate concern. Cars shouldn't be silent for the same reason odor is added to gasoline -- to minimize accidents. If it potentially saves lives, what's the harm with adding a little noise to a noiseless vehicle?

fireshoes

because then they are noisy when they drive by my house, totally invading my privacy! why I oughtta sue someone!

also loud cars are bad when you are listening to tunes in the car

hearingimpared

Refefer wrote:

Playing cards in the spokes? We'll always know when a driveby bicycling is about to occur...

Way back when I was a kid it was baseball cards (the ones of the other team) on the spokes with clothes pins. We used to do it with balloons to make it sound more like a motorcycle.

PolkThug

Just strap homing beacons on all the blind people. The car's nav system will recognize them.

MSALLA

hearingimpared wrote:

Well I want something done about the drivers of cars who have their subwoofers blasting so loud that it makes my heart beat faster which will aggravate and trigger my panic disorder and cause me to have a panic attack and run out into the street in front of a hybrid vehicle while trying to get away (it's a panic thing) . . . Now who would I sue then, the kid blasting his music, or the hybrid owner or maybe my doctor who forgot to tell me that loud music coming from an automobile might make me run in front of a hybrid vehicle which of course I won't hear, never mind that in a panic you don't hear anything of coherence anyway. . . how about the drug company who's medication I take . . . it didn't stop the panic attack, I guess I'll sue them also. . .


GIVE ME AN EFFFING BREAK. . . what do these wackadoos do all day sit around trying to find rediculous **** to stir up and waste more of this country's . . . everything!!!

And the answer is all of them.

Strong Bad

wingnut4772 wrote:

It'll be even more fun when the invisible electric car comes out.

I'm first in line when cloaking devices come out. I know of a few choice people in my neighborhood that need to be run over and squashed!

F1nut

Seems as though everyone is overlooking the fact that 4 tires going round n round make a helluva lot of noise, which for a blind person should be easy to hear.