Guess Who’s Not Pleased With Silent Hybrids
I’ll admit that I never thought anyone would be upset about cars being quiet. I figured that was just an added bonus of driving a hybrid. Well leave it to the blind to spoil my blissful ignorance. I never realized how often while cycling or running I relied on my ears to tell me if a car was approaching me from behind or around a corner. Turns out that the blind don’t have the option, imagine that.
No really, imagine it. To a blind person cars cruising down a residential street at a whisper quiet pace of 25 MPH is a very scary thing indeed! Even at that pace an alert blind person has about a second from the time they hear the wheels on pavement to react. Unless the driver has some quick reflexes a sight impaired pedestrian wandering into the road from behind a parked car doesn’t stand much of a chance if they’ve got less than a second to react. It’s like silent death in the streets!
Actually no blind pedestrians have been killed by hybrids in the past 5 years, but the National Federation of the Blind isn’t going to wait around for the fatalities to start piling up before they do something. The latest in their arsenal of public safety propaganda, The Hybrid Car Song. In case you’re not in the mood to download the entire song and listen to it yourself (believe me you’re not), I’ll just past my favorite lyric in here:
Kids and dogs won’t know when to scurry.
Silent death arrives in a hurry.
All who walk have reason to worry ‘Bout the hybrid car.
Enhanced Vehicle Acoustics is conducting tests on a noisemaking device for the Toyota Prius that will warn pedestrians of its approach, but for now whenever you’re in a residential area you hybrid have a great excuse for driving witht he tunes turned up and the windows rolled down!
Tags: NFB, silent death, silent hybrids
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August 5th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Please read-Americans need to know!!!!!!!!
NHTSA Hearings 8/4/08
I just returned from the NHTSA hearings held on August 4, 2008 in Washington D.C., regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for NEW Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards (CAFÉ) for years 2011-2015.
IMPORTANT FACTS: You will not believe what you are reading.
1) The 414 pages DEIS analysis was based on an average gasoline price of USD $2.16/gallon for 2011-2020. A calculation approved by the NHTSA administrators/managers. Would you believe it???????????
2) The new CAFÉ rules were also established, negotiated and pre-approved by the NHTSA’s management and clearly with the influence of domestic automotive companies and their lobbyists. We have now established fuel standards for 2011-2020 that are presently and already met throughout the rest of the Western world today (see below).
As one guest speaker said today “are they on another planet?”
NHTSA “NEW Fuel Standards” (2011-2015) decision:
Automobiles are to achieve 31.2 mpg by 2011 and 35.7 mpg by 2015. Light trucks are to achieve 25 mpg by 2011, and 28.6 mpg by 2015.
The NTHSA is also setting a goal of 35 mpg on average for 2020.
America needs to know:
The European Union is currently establishing standards, with a goal of reaching 48.9 miles per gallon for new passenger vehicles as early as 2012. The current EU standard already requires more than 40 miles per gallon about 15% higher than the U.S. goal set for 12 years from now.
Japan currently has a standard of about 40 miles per gallon. Japan aims to further improve fuel efficiency by 17% by 2015, reaching 46.9 miles per gallon.
China has a current average of slightly under 35 miles per gallon. Chinese fuel standards are on target to reach the government’s goal of 35.8 miles per gallon by 2009. China will not only meet, but exceed, the goal just established by the United States for 2020 — more than a full decade earlier.
Australia is targeting 34.4 miles per gallon by 2010.
Canada is targeting 34.1 miles per gallon by 2010.
Under the current administration, purchasing an electric vehicle is becoming more of a necessity rather than an alternative.
BG Automotive Group, Ltd.
http://www.BGelectricCars.com/