Feds want hybrids to sound off
Studies show a higher rate of pedestrian accidents associated with ultra-quiet hybrids than with gas-powered vehicles.
This post comes from Truman Lewis at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Listen up, hybrid and electric car owners. The feds want to hear you loud and clear.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been worried for quite a while that these new-fangled electric and hybrid cars would be sneaking up on unsuspecting pedestrians, since they make almost no noise when running electrically.
NHTSA has published a notice saying it wants to require that an alert noise be made by all light-duty cars, motorcycles, buses and trucks that use electric motors some or all of the time.
"Even as we make giant leaps forward with hybrid and electric vehicles, we must remain laser focused on safety," NHTSA administrator David Strickland said in a statement. "With more and more quiet vehicles on the road, we have to consider their effect on pedestrians." Post continues after video.
NHTSA held a public meeting on the matter in June 2008 and by October 2009 had gathered statistics showing a higher rate of pedestrian accidents associated with hybrids than with gas-powered vehicles.
What kind of device will NHTSA require? A little bell, maybe? Or perhaps a whirring sound? Or just a plain old horn?
It's too soon to say, since the agency has until Jan. 4, 2014, to finalize the rule. Once that rule takes effect, manufacturers would have until September 2017 to implement it.
General Motors is a little bit ahead of the game. Its plug-in Chevy Volt has an alert system that's activated when the driver pulls the turn-signal lever, the company said.
More on ConsumerAffairs.com and MSN Money:
MORE ON MSN MONEY
VIDEO ON MSN MONEY
THIS ISN'T DUMB, I ALMOST GOT RAN OVER BY A PRIUS IN MY APARTMENTS. I DID NOT HEAR IT COMING AND STARTED TO WALK ACROSS THE STREET, IT NEARLY MISSED ME BECAUSE I WAS WALKING IN BETWEEN CARS AND I DID NOT HEAR IT.
First, the car did not "nearly miss" you - obviously it DID miss you or you wouldn't have escaped unharmed. Second, if you really were "walking between cars" to cross the street, then you deserved to get hit. If a driver can't see you, how is he supposed to avoid hitting you? Third, if you were depending on "hearing" cars in order to know that there was traffic on the street, you're not the brightest bulb in the lamp, are you? Most of us were taught AS CHILDREN to look both ways before crossing a street.
What about the pedestrian's responsibility? Let's teach tem to walk, without head or cell phones, facing the traffic, so they can see the car!! I live in an area without sidewalks, and don't understand how kids can walk 4 abreast, with the traffic, and pay no attention to the road. Just another avenue for a potential lawsuit!
I thought there were government regulations to reduce noise pollution!
Oh, I got a great new job stimulus program.
Lets take a bunch of people who are off work. Pay them $17.50/hour to stand at the intersections on the sidewalk. Give them one of those signs that the road flaggers hold that say STOP/SLOW. When the inattentive (being nice) pedestrians who are too busy texting and walking start to step off the sidewalk into the road AGAINST the light, these people stick the sign out in front of their face and let them run into it.
Jobs for americans, appropriate punishment for stupidy and far cheaper than trying to fix the probelm with CARS... (and heck, it would be kinda funny, too).
Noise is a form of wasteful energy. Many new gas powered cars are extremely quiet also. Whatever noise level gets dictated will also have to apply to other vehicles. Maybe every vehicle should sound like a motorcycle. Even then, people not paying attention will still be struck.
You can't legislate stupidity away but our stupid legislators keep trying.
Great.
Technology advances to reduce noise polution and Government says we can't handle the change. So we make more noise and are back to square one. How about this idea, pedestrians and drivers watch out for each other. Of course that requires Individual responsibility, and I don't think that's in the Government's dictionary.
DATA PROVIDERS
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.
Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.
RECENT ARTICLES ON AUTO INSURANCE
TOOLS
The most and least costly cars to insureSave hundreds of dollars with the right vehicle.
- Calculator: How much car can I afford?
- Quickly estimate your credit score
- Average U.S. car value by age, income
SMART SPENDING
Money lessons are where you find them. Use these tips to live long and prosper.
