You would think with everything going on in the world right now, Congress would have more important things to worry about that this. Hybrids are too quiet and must be made to make more noise? LATimes:
A bill intended to protect blind people and other pedestrians from the dangers posed by quiet cars will be introduced today in Congress.
The measure would require the Transportation Department to establish safety standards for hybrids and other vehicles that make little discernible noise, including an audible means for alerting people that cars are nearby."The beneficial trend toward more environmentally friendly vehicles has had the unintended effect of placing the blind and other pedestrians in danger," said Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), who is sponsoring the bill with Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.).
The National Federation of the Blind has pushed for the legislation to protect those 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 UC Riverside have indicated the cars pose some risk. The study found that hybrids operating at slow speeds must be 40% closer to pedestrians than combustion-engine vehicles before they make enough noise for their location to be detected.
Notice that the advocacy group here knows of not a single instance in which this has actually happened. Nevertheless, because it might eventually happen to someone somewhere at some point, Congress must act to mandate that all cars make noise! I understand the motivation, but have these people ever heard of benefit-cost analysis? We don't have unlimited resources, so we must carefully choose when and where we act. Why on earth this should be a priority for us entirely escapes me.
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