Electric cars a danger to blind people – noise simulators on way
By Dave Parrack
A great many people seem to be buying into the idea that electric cars are the future of personal transport. Sales are up, and the technology is improving. However, as with all battery operated machinery, electric cars are virtually noiseless, which could be a problem when it comes to the safety of pedestrians.
Electric cars seem to be growing in popularity at a frightening pace. Personally, I’m not convinced by them because not only do most of them look awful, they cannot be driven very far without needing to be charged up again. More importantly, for a technology that is meant to be ecologically sound, where do the owners of the cars think the electricity comes from? Not out of thin air but from power plants being run on nuclear or fossil fuels, neither of which is exactly great for the environment.
Despite these kinds of reservations, the demand for electric or hybrid vehicles grows daily. It seems that until a new, more efficient, more ecologically-sound alternative is found, electric cars are here to stay. Which means every blind or visually-impaired pedestrian should beware.
The problem is that electric vehicles emit virtually no noise, at least from the engine department. In America, this has led to manufacturers being forced to mimic the sound of petrol-engine cars by the use of simulators. And now the European Union is following suit.
Lotus and Guide Dogs for the Blind are conducting joint trials on these simulators to see if they can make electric vehicles safer for visually impaired people. The visually impaired, of course, have to rely on the sound of oncoming traffic rather than seeing if a road is safe to cross or not. Which is fine in normal circumstance but not so good if a lone electric car is approaching.
The simulators being tested are nothing more than a speaker attached to the accelerator pedal of the car. When the pedal is pushed, the speaker emits the noise of an engine revving. Simple but ultimately very effective and possibly a lifesaver.
According to The Times, Jeremy Clarkson has dismissed the proposal due to he fact that “80 percent of the noise of cars comes from the tires, not the engine or exhaust.” Maybe this is so at high speed, such as when a car is being driven on a motorway, but not at low speeds which is when pedestrians are most likely to need the aural as well as visual indicator that a car is traveling past.
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Stumble It!
May 11th, 2009
We found only 6 Prius-pedestrian accidents in 2007 out of 5,432 accidents involving pedestrians, 0.11%. In the USA, over 500,000 Prius have been sold and are rolling on the highways. This is not a risk.
We found these six accidents searching through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Fatality Accident Reporting System (FARS):
ST mm/dd/yyyy Vehicles Prius Mode
CA 1/5/2007 1 2004
CA 1/24/2007 1 2006
FL 1/26/2007 1 2007
FL 9/12/2007 3 2006
TX 10/18/2007 2 2005
AZ 10/21/2007 2 2005
It turns out the Florida, 9/12/2007 accident report is fairly current:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/sep/14/140023/me-friends-family-mourn-21/news-breaking/
There is no way a noise maker on an Interstate highway in the rain would have made one bit of difference. Yet this is what the fools who advocate noise makers would have you believe.
In fact, we have a first person report by the Prius driver about this incident:
http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/37814-prius-vs-pedestrian-car-saved-my-life-9.html#post492974
Jesus once said,”And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
In the USA, 4,700 pedestrians die each year but instead of adopting the Euro practice of rating cars on pedestrian accident safety; following the SAAB pedestrian radar approach; or the BMW infrared pedestrian detector, this ‘tinkle’ this ‘little bell’ of bill seeks to make fake engine noises. It is hard to tell who is the 3 year old child pursing their lips together and saying “burrrm, burrrm” fake engine noises.
In aviation, we say safety regulations are written in blood. This legislation is written in bovine fecal matter … useless!
Bob Wilson
May 11th, 2009
Why not playing some soft and pleasant musical recording from EV speakers, instead of a simulation of a nostalgic noise composed by Detroit Diesel, Cummins or Caterpillar?
It would be much more appreciated by the visual impaired pedestrians.
May 11th, 2009
I normally don’t agree with much of what Clarkson has to say, but he’s spot on here. Dave, at low speeds that majority of sound made by a car STILL comes from the tires. Perhaps if one is cruising about at 25MPH with the engine revved in first gear that might not be the case, but practically the ONLY time a car engine makes more noise than the tires is sitting at a traffic light or stop sign, and a not moving car isn’t a threat to hit a blind pedestrian is it?