Blinds against the Hybrid technology
by EVANDER KLUM
Despite the hybrid vehicles being the new symbol for environmental friendly and fuel efficient vehicles, these are not literally seen by the blind. For blind people, because hybrids are quieter when they are on lower speeds when using electric power, it entails danger for them who merely rely on sounds of approaching vehicles when they are walking across the pedestrian lanes and at parking lots.
"I'm used to being able to get sound cues from my environment and negotiate accordingly. I hadn't imagined there was anything I really wouldn't be able to hear," said Deborah Kent Stein, chairwoman of the National Federation of the Blind's Committee on Automotive and Pedestrian Safety.
"We did a test, and I discovered, to my great dismay, that I couldn't hear it." she added.
The test made use of people standing in parking lots or on sidewalks who were asked to make a sign when they hear hybrid vehicles pass making it not totally scientific.
"People were making comments like, 'When are they going to start the test?' And it would turn out that the vehicle had already done two or three laps around the parking lot," Stein said.
There had been notably increasing demand for hybrid vehicles to go with increasing concerns for harmful emissions from the average vehicles. In a report made by R.L. Polk & Co, an automotive research firm, there had been an increase of 49 percent in vehicle registration of hybrid vehicles during the first few months of 2007 compared to the same period last year. According to the company, the Toyota Prius remains to be the best-selling hybrid vehicle selling 460,000 units since its introduction on the year 2000. Aside from the Prius, the Japanese automaker also launched several hybrid versions of the Camry and other Lexus (with Lexus distributor rotor) models.
The Baltimore-based National Federation for the blind and its officials are not calling for consumers to return to the previous gas guzzlers, they are just advocating for hybrid vehicles to make some noise for their safety.
Marc Maurer, president of the NFB said that he received an e-mail from an environmentalist telling him that his group shall be the first to drown when global warming causes sea levels to rise.
"I don't want to pick that way of going, but I don't want to get run over by a quiet car, either," Maurer said.
The NFB being the lead advocacy group representing 1.3 million blind people in the United States has repeatedly made appeals to automakers and the federal government gaining very little success.
Auto manufacturers are already aware of the pleas made by the organization. According to Bill Kwong, spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales USA, the company is already studying possible response to the problem.
"One of the many benefits of the Prius, besides excellent fuel economy and low emissions, is quiet performance. Not only does it not pollute the air, it doesn't create noise pollution," Kwong said.
"We are studying the issue and trying to find that delicate balance."
The problem is also being studied by the Association of Internal Auto Manufacturers Inc., together with a committee established by the Society of Automotive Engineers. According to Mike Camissa, the safety director for the manufacturer��s association, the group is working on ��the possibility of setting a minimum noise level standard for hybrid vehicles��
According to officials of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration comprising the two arms of the U.S. Department of Transportation, they are also aware of the problem but have not studied it and the possible solutions.
