In what is becoming an increasingly unusual phenomenon, I extracted an interesting nugget of information out of Crikey! today. It’s even vaguely related to the environment debates that seem to have taken hold around Catallaxy lately. Even better, it’s by Christian Kerr, who’s unearthed a revealing factoid about certain types of Greenie drivers:
Who comes first? Gaia or the gimps? America’s National Federation of the Blind is warning that hybrid cars can be dangerous to the blind, children and elderly pedestrians. Why? Hybrids are much quieter than their conventional counterparts, so silent that the NFB says that they can be difficult to hear coming down the street.
‘We had [a hybrid] drive by in different situations, to see whether or not people could hear it and use the sound of the car to safely cross the street, and they could not. The car was just silent,’ NFB spokesman John Pare says. And there’s much, much more on the Federation’s blog:
Sev MacPete, founder of the Toyota Prius Club of San Diego, dismisses the idea that hybrids pose a safety threat. ‘If you could say anything about hybrid drivers, they are more aware of their surroundings than other drivers,’ Mr MacPete says. We doubt that Mr MacPete’s generalisations about hybrid drivers are any more true than they are about automobile operators in general. If the cavalier attitudes of the San Diego Prius club are any indication, it looks as though the National Federation of the Blind will need to advocate for state and federal laws or regulations requiring these vehicles to make some sort of sound; and since the automobile industry is notoriously resistant to regulation, we need to prepare ourselves for an aggressive and extended campaign.
Hybrid drivers, stop being so smug. You’re going to get some stick. White stick.
While I’m not sure that regulation is the answer (it may be, but there are probably other options available), the problem is an interesting one. I’m also not sure if the quietness of hybrids would have any effect on Guide Dogs, which - like all canines - have far better hearing than humans, and are trained to use it with great skill. Of course, not all blind people have dogs, either. They rely on canes, which is rather Christian Kerr’s point.
23 Comments
And while we’re on environmental matters…
We should just regulate hybrids cars to come with loud stereo systems. Problem solved.
That’s funny - a thread seems to have disappeared.
Yeah I don’t see how this is a huge problem. You could affix a speaker to make hybrid cars make noise the same as a real car for about $5. Problem solved.
What’s more, you could make your Prius sound like a GTO - and score yourself some o’ that sweet blind booty.
I don’t think we need any regulations, Prius drivers are more than willing to shout loudly about what they drive.
I say this probably calls for a comment from Harold Scruby of the Pedestrian Council. He’s bound to have an opinion.
Harold Scruby has an opinion on everything. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t he used to have a lot to do with the Ausflag people?
Who the hell is Harold Scruby?
JC, you may want to start here. When you’ve gone cross-eyed, let me know what you think.
Friggen guy is everywhere. With a name like that I would be hiding under a rock.
And my hunch about the Ausflag thing was right. It is an unfortunate surname.
What’s the AUSflag thing? Why assume we all know this stuff? Are we supposed to?
If harold was involved I wanna here it. This sounds like the public face of Fatfingers by the way. Is Fats harold? Or is Harold Fats?
Got it. And Harold’s involved…. SINCE 1981??!!!
This boring dude has been at it for 26 years?! Crikey!
Ausflag is an apolitical Australian not for profit organization that exists to promote debate on Australia’s national symbols, in particular the flag of Australia.
Ausflag was formed in 1981 by Harold Scruby, and has since worked to foster debate on the design of the flag.
Basically they want to change the flag. They were big during the Republic dust-up in 1999.
Website here.
FDB:
>What’s more, you could make your Prius sound like a GTO…
Or get SFX of one of those boy racer blow-off valves….excellent!
The alternative is of course to provide more filtered crossing places with audio alerts of when to cross … but this requires local authorities to spend money and isn’t considered a particularly high priority (they can’t even provide comprehensive coverage of dipped kerbs).
I don’t see the need for intervention here. They have those audio alerts all over Sydney and there’s almost always a traffic light, so what’s the problem?
If some people choose to jaywalk or not cross the street at a traffic light, that’s their own problem, blind or sighted. I’m not blind and I go out of my way to always cross a traffic light and hardly jaywalk.
Not in the UK, Jason. There’s all these silly ‘heritage’ rules designed to prevent changes to city kerbs or to allow audio alerted crossings.
Much as growing up in Qld under Joh annoyed me because he knocked over so many heritage sites, living in the UK under the aegis of the National Trust almost cured me of my fondness for heritage ‘built environment’ sites.
I think they have pelican/zebra crossings in mind rather than jaywalking. There are no alerts and blind people rely on their ears to ‘look both ways before you cross’.
Much as growing up in Qld under Joh annoyed me because he knocked over so many heritage sites, living in the UK under the aegis of the National Trust almost cured me of my fondness for heritage ‘built environment’ sites.
We’ll see if you still feel that way once you’ve visited MY place.
Okay yes, there was a hanging tag in THAT one. Sorry.
Yair, okay missy, person with real estate next to Edinburgh Castle (for real). One day I’ll post the pic you sent me from your back yard, DEM.