NHTSA already working to fulfill new Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act

Have you ever considered the safety consequences of cars that are actually too quiet?

On Tuesday, President Obama signed the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010. In this law Congress requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ensure that electric and hybrid car manufacturers add noises that alert the blind and other pedestrians.

Because these cars operate so quietly, particularly at low speeds, they are involved in more accidents with pedestrians and cyclists who can’t hear the vehicle coming. This problem is even bigger for the visually impaired who rely on sounds for guidance.

Welcoming the new law, Mitch Pomerantz, President of the American Council of the Blind, said, "As new vehicle technologies become more prevalent in the years to come, The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act will ensure that people who are blind will still be able to travel safely."

Because safety is our top priority, NHTSA has already been studying this problem in advance of the new law.

Phase one of the research identified requirements for blind pedestrians’ safe mobility and potential countermeasures. It showed that the average person--not just the visually impaired--took significantly longer to detect vehicles operating in electric mode.

Phase two is ongoing. Now that we've learned a quieter fleet could potentially put pedestrians at risk, NHTSA and the Volpe National Transportation Center in Massachusetts are testing synthetic sounds. Congress has asked that electric and hybrid vehicles emit a sound at low speeds so pedestrians recognize when a vehicle is approaching. In our tests, we're trying to find the right balance between quiet roadways and pedestrian safety.

As Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said, “The blind, like all pedestrians, must be able to travel to work, to school, to church, and to other places in our communities, and we must be able to hear vehicles in order to do so."

Because of this important new law, NHTSA will move forward to help everyone have a safe trip, wherever they're going.

To diminish our reliance on oil through hybrid and electric vehicles, we are creating a much quieter fleet. And as we make these leaps forward, I’m glad to know we’re keeping our focus squarely on safety .

Comments

[Jack Walker]

This is a painfully stupid idea. Silence is golden. We are bombarded daily with ambient noise in urban environments that are unhealthy for residents long-term. Urban noise is a much greater problem for many more people than quiet cars are for the blind (who comprise less than one quarter of one percent of the population).

This is a bad solution in search of a very, very rare problem. Surely there are other ways to solve this problem rather than making cars louder. Totally lame and unnecessary law.

[Johny the CellPhone guy]

I for one agree with the law to instate some kind of noise on these cars. I am not hearing impaired, and I almost got backed into 2 times in one day from these type of quiet hybrids. I would be willing to bet that the insurance rates on these cars will increase as more and more cases of the quiet-drive-by happens as well. Food for though-
JR

[LoneStarLaurel]

WONDERFUL TO GET SOME KIND OF AUDIBLE NOTICE that these vehicles are present. Love silence, too but rarely are vehicles traveling at low speed in pristinely quiet places. Suggest wilderness camp/hike.

Seriously, could the audio enhancement not be some type of muted harmonious pleasant musical/chiming tones? I'm sure research data is available re pleasantly unobtrusive sounds which can also meet safety needs. Not musak. Not casinoish. Which inspiring sci-fi was it in which communication was in musical tones?

[K. Brown]

Well Jack, I'm guessing you're not blind or you've never been one of those that has been run over. We must think of others. My child is blind and I think it is a great idea.

[deegee]

I know this is a safety issue first and foremost but as someone who lives a couple blocks from a major freeway, I would love to see some reduction in overall automotive noise. Please don't do the overkill thing, as with heavy equipment backup beeps, which can be heard a quarter-mile away. And please, please, please don't allow "ring tones." I do not want to be walking down the sidewalk listening to snatches of Bon Jovi etc. pass by.

[Kevin]

I'd love to see the study on this... The common sense area of my brain doubts there is any real data to support that noisy cars result in fewer incidents over environmentally friendly cars that make less noise.

[Scott Martin]

This is so utterly silly. The problem isn't that the car backing into you isn't making noise so you can get out of the way, it's that the car is backing into you! The issue isn't that the car going through a crosswalk isn't making noise, it's the car going through the crosswalk (which frequently has audible signals for safe crossing times) isn't doing so safely! That bicyclist that just moved in front of a car in the next lane over (did they signal properly) can't hear the car anyway with normal wind noise in a biking helmet (perhaps we should outlaw helmets because they prevent the bikers from hearing well too). And don't get me started about pedestrians with headphones...

What ever happened to teaching our children to look both ways before crossing the street and to cross at crosswalks? I understand that the objective is to improve safety but is a law needed that will cost the manufacturers (and eventually the consumers) more money? I was always taught that safety starts with oneself. Can we put our energies into continued safety education?

Oh - and for those times when a pedestrian is simply just distracted, cars still have horns, right?

[Asheville Photographer - Blue Bend Photography]

This seems kind of silly. You have to be driving the car at below 5mph for the car to be "silent". If someone is driving slow enough to be very quiet, I'm pretty sure that they'd be able to stop in time to not run over someone.

[Goran Bogdanoivc]

Generations of blind and visually impaired people have dedicated their passion and skills to enhancing our national life! It time for us to help them to P.A.S.S. safely with Roundabout and crosswalk with alternative powertrian vehicles .I think we also can keep the million’s of electric vehicles that are on the road today that they can enjoy there voice.

Goran Bogdanovic