Arkansas Gazette - "Bell the Hybrid"

WOW!!, I just read this thread and all I can say is WOW. if this is not a state of the union for America what is! It is impossible for us to have survived our youth according to the some peoples "statistics" today. How could we have without all these laws to protect us?? I believe in safety and wish no harm to anybody...but come on! I could create laws to protect you to the extent that you could not move, or breathe based on "protecting" you.. Where has common sense gone?

 

Maybe they got the canes from all the blind people killed by hybrids...

BJJB

 

How many children have been run over by SUVs? By the twisted logic displayed above, SUVs aren't road ready, yet millions and millions of them have been gobbled up by an America that hate children.

Why do Americans hate toddlers?

 

Actually, according to his posting, the Prius wasn't dangerous enough for him.

I have no intention of attacking the visually-impaired (having diabetes I may go blind and I know it) or good advocacy by advocacy groups. As noted, I'm diabetic but I dislike the ADA because they are working hard to protect their major contributors making testing supplies. I'm an environmentalist, but I'm not exactly thrilled with Greenpeace or the Earth Liberation Front. Not all advocacy groups do what is best for their constituents.

More awareness for Prius drivers, other hybrid drivers and 4 cylinder car drivers is probably a good thing. I've been driving for 36 years now, and I can only remember seeing one person with a white cane alone by the roadside during that period. I remembered wondering why she had no one with her, not even a guide dog. I can only remember seeing a half dozen with someone. I've only had two kids run out in the street in front of me in all those years too. Fortunately I was able to stop because they had no clue I was there.

I saw and heard the driver of the Dodge K-car back in 1984 at the stop sign. I thought he saw me. He didn't until I was looking at him through the windshield at about a 2 foot distance. Obviously, he didn't see me. I'm known to be a very careful pedestrian especially for someone who works downtown. I know that my safety is dependent on caution, particularly on the part of the pedestrian.

I'm not opposed to installing silent alarms on all vehicles that could be read by the visually-impaired person's cane. I'm sure it's possible. Not only would we be identifiable, but so would the 4 cylinder ICE only car be identified as opposed to the semi to the left at that intersection, drowning out all other noise.

 

When I first read that, I though it was sarcasm....

After reading the following posts, it's clear that it's only a poor attempt at trolling. Pretty sad.

 

Dave, this is one area where you need to just follow the vocal leaders or risk being called a troll or too lazy to read data. <edit - too late, I see they've already done that> They don't harbor dissent on this issue, even if you make sense.

And I see Bob re-presented his grandiose plan on selling universal keyfobs and bleepers to solve this problem, even though the problem doesn't exist according to him, and that his solution is more expensive and much harder to implement than putting a hum generator in the front of the car.

Wow, this is coming from a moderator? I thought you were supposed to calm things down, not rile them up.

How is this more of a problem than the government forcing catalytic converters on all of us, which we know lowers our MPG, the most evil thing you can do to a Prius?

 

Actually, a lot of us didn't survive, and aren't here today to speak up. Vehicle deaths have steadily dropped over the years as new safety equipment is mandated. In the 70's over 50,000 people were killed in vehicle accidents every year (the same as all of the Vietnam war), now it's about 40,000 even with an increase in population and increase in miles driven per person. Still the most common cause of death for ages 5-34.

Yes, car seats for kids are inconvenient, and putting on a seat belt takes two seconds, and air bags cost money, but they do save lives.

 

:tape2::lock1::deadhorse:

Just a suggestion.

 

According to the NFB's website, a "hum generator" wouldn't good enough. The hybrid (not an all-electric by the way) car has to make sounds when it is idling, accelerating and decelerating exactly like the sounds of a regular ICE, and be sufficiently loud that the visually-impaired person can both hear it and figure out where the sound is coming from. I'm not sure how loud that would have to be, but I'm not happy about the prospect that my Prius will have to be louder than someone's Yaris (which cannot be heard in downtown traffic).

I'm not opposed to having someone figure out how to make it safer for visually-impaired persons to be independent, but I think it needs to be reasonable and fair, and not too intrusive (I remember the short-lived seatbelt interlock requirement! And yes, I always wear mine). I think the principle of a device on all vehicles that would alert the visually-impaired to vehicles around them, is such a method. And if parents wanted to buy them for their kids, they could do so.

I appreciate my backup camera but I was disappointed to find out that the backing up beeping can't be heard by the neighbor kids on sidewalk behind me. We know that that would save lives.

 

You call people you're debating "wackos", and you expect them to treat you like an adult? Does your mom even know you're here?

 

You should read all of his posts. He really doesn't have a 2008 Prius like he claims.

 

Where's the link to the Fox News article about Prius'. I bet they'll get a kick out of the conspiracy theories in this thread

 

This just in.....All the Walmarts in Arkansas have sold out of ammo....when asked why they said ...Them Russians invaded Georgia and we ain't gonna let em do it here...

 

Okay, now that I found this thread, I understand why Dave_PH has been attacking me over in this thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-hybrid-news/52631-summertime-2.html

Let me post what he attacked:

Apparently he believes that I also hate blind people, so let me state that is not true, in fact my father is slowly losing his sight due to Macular Degeneration. It runs in families, so I have an excellent chance at getting it also if I live long enough.

That being said, adding noise makers to hybrids and other "quiet" vehicles in an attempt to protect blind people is a really bad idea. The problem is that other vehicles make noise too, so in a lot of cases, this solution will be ineffective. That is what I was trying to point out in the quote above.

Dave_PH, if you would like to refute what I posted above, be my guest, but try to refrain from personal attack, because I do not appreciate it.

 

But a Prius isn't silent. It just doesn't make as much noise as the average car. It has a very distinctive electric motor whine when it is using regenerative braking coming to a stop. It also has tire noise, which is what I hear when it is moving.

How does your friend deal with other quiet cars, like a Honda Civic? Those cars are also very quiet. I can usually only hear tire noise as one goes by. If there is any background noise, it drowns out the engine noise.

I am not opposed to a solution, but I don't think making quiet cars loud is a good solution.

Again, how loud should they be?

 

This from the NFB's website. A potential solution is presented, which could actually be used to help people who are otherwise distracted as well as visually-impaired. But nope, the only answer is to make the hybrid sound like its internal combustion engine is running and pretty loudly at that. They note that at low speeds, hybrids run solely on their electric motors. Only at "higher speeds" does the internal combustion engine kick in.



It sounds like we need to be at the table here. The NFB has a couple of misconceptions that need corrected. Oh, that's right, that's already happened.

 

Well, it does seem absurd to make cars noisier when so much effort has been spent in the past to make them quieter. Do you remember the Lexus ads where the car was in an anechoic chamber and they ran the car to show how quiet it was?

Actually, I think the real problem is that professional politicians will not want to be seen as "hating blind people" so it will be difficult for them to vote against it.

I personally don't see how they will implement it (how loud is loud enough?) and enforce it (roadside listening devices?) if they do pass legislation.

What have Toyota and Honda said about this legislation? Are they involved in the process?

 

Well, as this was the 34th thread on the same subject, I avoided it as long as I could. But a good troll is hard to ignore forever.

Safety. What the heck is safety? We're living in a world that drives gasoline cars. These cars kill 10's of thousands of people every year. They don't do it by running them down - they do it with the pollution that they create. If you want to make a safety difference in automobiles - get the damn gas-burners off the road. Oh... they also run people down - these gasoline-burning, loud vehicles. How does that happen when we should be able to hear them?

When I'm in a parking lot with my back to the cars, I can pick out the hybrids and EVs (we have about 50 EVs in my town now) coming up behind me by the distinctive electric motor whine. I can't quite tell the Lexus from the Prius yet, but I'm getting closer. And I can tell the GEMS from the Rav4EVs. I can also hear bicycles. Even people walking if I try hard enough. And my hearing sucks compared to the hearing of most blind people I know.

You'd think that bind people were being mowed down by the dozens... and yet I still haven't seen a single report of a hybrid hitting a blind person... ever. What we DO know is that cars kill countless people - both in hitting them, and because of the pollution. Where is the outrage? Why are we not trying harder to fix this? We're trying to protect this tiny subset of the population from a threat that doesn't really exist (except in theory!) while ignoring the real problem? Gasoline cars are a threat to every living thing on this planet. Yes, even the blind.

Oh, and what about the deaf? Why do you hate deaf people, Dave_PH? Deaf AND blind? I'm forwarding your comments to the Association for the Deaf and Blind. The blind people with lung and heart conditions must be pretty happy with your choice to drive a more polluting vehicle.

I don't like to hear myself making fun like this. I really don't. But come on... this whole thing has just become comical. And you're the ring master at this circus.

If you want to help save lives - figure out how to get rid of gasoline use. The Prius is a tiny step in that direction.... but since you've apparently gone back to a regular gasoline car, you are helping to kill more people... even blind people! So congratulations on that bit of irony.