Hybrid, electric vehicles to become louder for pedestrian safety

[The Straight Story]

Hybrid, electric vehicles to become louder for pedestrian safety

The House on Thursday approved a bill that would make electric and hybrid cars louder in the name of pedestrian safety.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) sponsored the bill. The Senate approved a version last week and now it goes to President Obama’s desk.

Under the proposed legislation, auto regulators would have to set minimum sound levels for hybrid and electric vehicles. With some additional noise, blind pedestrians will be able to hear them coming and travel more safely.

Stearns said the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act will protect the blind, children and joggers who need to hear traffic.

The House approved the bill 379 to 30. If the bill is signed by Obama there will be a study to “determine the minimum amount of sound necessary” to alert pedestrians. The Department of Transportation will enact the noise regulations within 18 months.

http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/hybrid-electric-vehicles-to-become-louder-for-pedestrian-safety/13077/

[hobbit709]

1. Playing cards in the spokes?

[KT2000]

2. Pulling a hydroplane

is noisy too, but cards are definitely the best.

[FiveGoodMen]

8. Beat me to it!

:toast:

[alphafemale]

3. Oh come on....many vehicles are near silent now. It's their tires that you can hear.

Tire noise is much louder than engine noise most of the time.

unless it's a diesel...or a Honda or Mazda. :rofl:

[Happyhippychick]

4. I have a hybrid and I have to be extra careful in parking lots, people amble.

I like the cards in the spokes idea.

[hlthe2b]

6. I'm extra careful because I don't dare want to have to use...

that wimpy horn for pedestrians or for another driver. LOL. I love my prius, but that horn is embarrassing!

[MadHound]

5. So instead of putting a deer whistle on the bumper, I put a human whistle?

This is just another 'Pug obstructionist who doesn't want the country to go green.

[Tumbulu]

7. this makes me sad as one of the things that I love

most about my hybrid is that is ti so quiet. The thing that I hate most about cars is the noise they make. I think that motorcycles are criminal with the horrifying noises they make. What about all of us people who are extra sensitive to noise?

[taterguy]

9. If you're that damn sensitive to noise ride a bicycle

Unless of course you don't want the shit scared out of you by some silent hybrid car sneaking up on you.

[earthside]

10. Open your eyes!

Be aware of your surroundings!

A bicycle might just sneak-up on you too.

[taterguy]

11. I don't have eyes in the back of my head

And I don't give a flying fuck if a bicycle sneaks up on me.

It won't kill me.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

18. There are exceptions to that

for pedestrians and motorcycles

[IDemo]

12. Not all motorcycles are loud

Many modern bikes, in fact, are all but whisper quiet. It is generally when an owner decides to toss the standard exhaust system for a less restrictive after-market system that noise becomes an issue. I'm with you on the ridiculous straight-piped choppers, which sound more like an anti-aircraft gun than a vehicle (and no, loud pipes don't save lives, despite what the popular myth says).

My bike isn't Cadillac quiet, but you probably wouldn't notice the engine noise from it on a busy street.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. Those motorcycles you abhor are modifed not stock

[SmileyRose]

13. BULLSHIT - for the blind my ass.

Excuse me but why don't they just say people are getting stupider and stupider - too freaking stupid to pay attention to cars when they are walking and too stupid to pay attention to pedestrians when driving.

How many blind people are out there wandering around in the road outside of a crosswalk? Give me a break.


Our society will stop getting stupider when we stop protecting people from themselves.

[NuclearDem]

14. Just stick some noise generator under the hood

Something that mimics the sound of an internal combustion engine, but quieter than a typical one. People know the sound of a car engine coming from behind them...even if it's quiet.

[Roselma]

15. Yay! As a person whose sight is becoming increasingly

impaired, I rely on my hearing. This will be helpful.

[madinmaryland]

16. That damn "second hand silence" will kill you every time.

:P