Making Hybrids Audible
By Karina | April 30, 2008
It’s spring, so I’m driving around town these days with the windows open. I love driving around with the windows open! I get the wind in my hair, I get to listen to the sounds of the great out-doors, and then when I’m at a stoplight and my hybrid shuts off, I get to listen to how loud the other cars are all around me and I think to myself: I am the future! the future is now!
But apparently the fact that my wee little hybrid is so quiet is a problem - there was national legislation proposed earlier this month to study the noise that hybrids make in order to make the cars safer for pedestrians!
The Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind has pushed for the legislation, part of its campaign to raise awareness of the potential for accidents involving hybrid vehicles and people who rely on their hearing to know when to cross the street.While the organization is not aware of people being struck by cars they couldn’t hear, NFB President Marc Maurer has said he fears it’s only a matter of time.
Preliminary results of an ongoing study at the University of California-Riverside have indicated the cars pose some risk. The study found that hybrids operating at slow speeds must be 40 percent closer to pedestrians than combustion-engine vehicles before they make enough noise for their location to be detected.
After the two-year study, safety standards are to be developed and implemented on these dangerous quiet cars.
Now, as I said to Jenn when she sent me this story — while I don’t want blind people to get hurt, how about we all just stop hitting pedestrians? I mean, I don’t know about your state, but in the current and most recent states of my residence are very clear in legislation giving the pedestrians the right-of-way. You know, always.
And really, not to make light of the situation - but check out this wonderful faux Prius commercial from a year ago - I haven’t seen the tv show they took the clip from, but it’s hilarious. (and probably not safe for work.)
Photo by me: when I get a chance to park my wee insight next to a hummer I grab the opportunity and take a photo. isn’t it hilarious?
What do you think? has a hybrid snuck up on you? Should they be more audible?
Topics: Transportation |
It is really sort of funny to be driving, especially in parking lots where there are lots of pedestrians, and you forget you are driving a hybrid and start thinking “what is wrong with these people! They are so oblivious!” and then you remember you are driving a hybrid :)
I think it’s a really great idea to not hit people. :)
It always amazes me when I leave NYC and try to cross the street in some other city/town, and the cars stop to let me pass. It’s confusing, at first. And until you reminded me above, I actually forgot that pedestrians do have the right of way here…. I don’t think any other NYers remember this either.
[…] Tiny Choices talks about making hybrids audible. […]
My parent’s house is on a street in the woods, and on top of a hill, so they have to be careful walking across the street to get the mail–it is simply not possible for a driver to see anyone in the street until dangerously close. In cases like these, having a little extra noise can be very helpful, even for pedestrians who aren’t blind.
that’s true! there are a lot of areas that aren’t designed for pedestrians, and therefore can be very dangerous.
Maybe an early warning system instead? I hate the idea of giving up the quiet.
Yes, because all the worlds other problems have been solved, we should get right to work on this.
Blind people do rely heavily on sound to navigate crosswalks. Very few crosswalks are equipped with a beeping system to let them know when a light has changed (I live in Dallas and can think of only one).
Even if they were all equipped with these systems, it would be especially terrifying to be blind and have to rely completely on all drivers paying enough attention and being able to stop if you stepped out right in front of them.
So, for blind people, it really is a problem.
I definately agree, and I have huge admiration for blind people - navigating through our unfriendly streets is a big task.
I don’t know of ANY beeping crosswalks in NYC, though I know of a few in Pittsburgh (near a school for the blind).
When I lived in Waynesville there were beeping crosswalks downtown which were loud as hell, but a blind women who walked everywhere lived on my street. We walked together sometimes and talked, and it was obvious she would rely completely on noise & trust combined… but she said even with noise people drive so fast now she couldn’t tell when a car was coming till it was right up on her. And had to trust they would see her and stop. What she needed most was someone to walk with her and tell her when to stop.
I think people have become less mindful when driving, they are talking on phones, driving fast, jamming out to loud music- and are driving on internal auto pilot. The suggestion to stop hitting pedestrians is absolutely a MUST ! It actually is the best solution.
There is always a solution to a problem, and this one has to have one too (just can’t think of it yet :) )))
But what if cars had never made noise in the first place ? We would have come up with a system to match that.
There are beeping ones in NYC near The Lighthouse Foundation…an organization for the blind and hard of sight in the upper 50’s on the east side.
i’m a daily bicyclist in san francisco, and while it saddens me to say so, i must admit that i’ve had close calls with priuses. i’m not one of the rabid bikers who runs lights and cuts you off, and i’m not a shaky mouse; i follow traffic laws, bike sanely, and have been doing so daily for 15 years, all over the city between the yoga classes i teach.
i’d say about once a week a car passes close enough that i gasp (some been close enough that i’ve found myself screaming before i realized why) involuntarily and watch the wee inches between my left handlebar and their passenger door rush by. it’s crucial for me to hear the cars coming so i can be defensive, and i just can’t hear a hybrid coming over the sound of the wind and the rest of the traffic. they scare me.
I didn’t think of bicyclists, either!
I hate to think that adding to noise pollution is the answer. What about bike messengers who run into pedestrians in walkways, should we make all bicyclists do the old playing-card-on-the-spokes noise? And noise is no guarantee that someone won’t run a red light. The fear seems to be that soon all cars will be silent — what are the odds of that in a society that still loves its big-ass SUVs?
My Honda was very quiet and I’m sure a biker often couldn’t hear it over wind and other traffic yet no legislation is proposed to increase quiet–non-hybrid’s sounds.
And there are other senses than hearing for the sighted. I’ve seen bicyclists with rear view mirrors which allow them more than one way to be aware of their surroundings. And, like your comment regarding not hitting pedestrians, let’s just not drive that close to people biking. I always give them a wide berth even if that means driving slowly until oncoming traffic provides a space to go around. And I’m curious what defensive move a biker could do when a noisy car drives too close to them.
Let’s work on providing the blind with better tools when navigating — not just beeping crosswalks but maybe, I don’t know, motion detectors? — and teaching better driving manners rather than making hybrids noisy.
I think you make fantastic points across the board. In this day and age we seem to work more on quick (sometimes ridiculous) solutions than to work on public outreach, which is at the heart of the matter. There is a risk of being hit no matter what; whether you are in a car, walking, on a bike, are temporarily able-bodied, using a wheelchair or other devices, of varying hearing and sight levels. We have to remember this. It is all too often that we take for granted that if operating a bike or car, while they are tools, they can all too easily become weapons. The heart of the matter is, it’s up to us as operators of any means of transport to be aware of those around us and abide by the laws. This goes for jaywalking, not adhering to traffic laws when on a bike, as well as drivers of cars. In my mind, aside from safety outreach, the others are bandaid solutions.
I say, if you see a person who may not hear you coming in your snazzy hybrid and you’d like to alert them you can roll down the window and yell “I’m coming!” or blast some bird chirping or some seascape music (a.k.a. the sound of nature) to signal you presence or just do what you should do as a driver; pay attention to what the heck is going on while you’re driving. More sound doesn’t make sense to me. The louder your car is, the less able you are to be attentive to the subtle sounds of bikers and pedestrians.
The louder your car is, the less able you are to be attentive to the subtle sounds of bikers and pedestrians.
a very good point! you remind me of the motorcycle-friendly license plate that says “loud pipes save lives.” it’s important that *we* listen and look, from the safety of our big steel boxes.
We live on a winding road in the hills (no sidewalks), and while it would be great if all of our neighbors and their guests would just drive more slowly, in the meantime, it does seem to be the hybrids that come out of nowhere and scare us the most.
I think a good solution for the time being is for people driving Hybrids to be extra-vigilant, especially in areas with low visibility.
On the other hand, we love to see them pass by on the street below and not have the roar of an engine accompany their passage.