Advocates For The Blind Hail New Hybrid, Electric Car Noise Rules
by KYW tech editor Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- They are the quiet cousins of gas and diesel cars, but hybrids and electric vehicles are about to up the decibel level. The government is mandating that automakers add an audible alert so pedestrians aren't caught off guard.
An electric Leaf hatchback driving by would barely make a peep; instead, Nissan equips the vehicle with an artificial sound that plays when the car is accelerating or going in reverse.
It's to prevent what happened to Chris Danielsen.
"I didn't hear this vehicle, and if it had not been for my guide dog seeing it, I would have been run over," says the spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind.
The group is applauding new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulations which stem from a law passed six years ago: hybrids and electrics must be equipped to make noise when traveling up to about 19 miles an hour. (Faster than that, and natural road and wind sound can alert people on foot, or riding a bike.)
Danielsen says an audible warning is critical -- especially for people who are blind or low vision.
"We have to know not just that a quiet car is present, but also in which direction it's going, and all of those things that just can't be conveyed in any other way than with sound," he says.
The government says it could help prevent 2400 injuries every year. Carmakers have until 2019 to comply.
