Letters to the Editor
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anon anon
Y'know, Lynx, it's possible for someone in a car to make a mistake and run down a blind person who absolutely has the right of way.
That's very true, It is also possible for someone in a car to make a mistake and run down a sighted person who absolutely has the right of way.
In principle, requiring a vehicle to be reasonably easy to detect by a blind person is no different than the plethora of running lights that make vehicles reasonably easy to spot at night
Sure, except for the whole noise pollution thing. I suppose it is somewhat similar to the light pollution you get, but omni-directional.
Economically, the only difference is that most of the population is sighted, so most of the population benefits from the mandatory expense/inconvenience on the vehicle owner.
Sure, which is why I propose the blind get the detection devices for free and the cost be passed on to Prius drivers. Most of the population doesn't require the devices to tell when a Prius is coming.
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drivers are responsible for pedestrians safety...
Blind people are trained on (among other things non-blind people do with ease) how to cross streets. Whether it be walking with a cane, a guide dog, or another person. There are rules to follow. Such as cross at an intersection with a cross walk. Cross when the audible walk / don't walk alert sounds the "OK".
In my old home town, in the main square, where the audible "OK to cross" sound used to be a ringing bell (like a school bell at 08:00) the non-blind residents actually successfully lobbied against the sound and had it changed. They complained about the "noise pollution" that the sound of the bell made. Ugh! Now it sounds like a distorted, computerized chirp.
In my state (MA), the onus is on the driver to yield to the pedestrian. Therefore, whether I'm driving a Mack truck, a 10-speed, or a ninja Prius... It is my responsibility to beware of pedestrians - therefore it is my responsibility to avoid causing injury to them at any cost. If I see a pedestrian and I think that they are not aware of my on-coming presence... Darn right I'm going to honk my horn. Not blast them with it, just a quick "Hey" type-of toot. At the same time, I'm more than likely stepping off the gas and applying pressure to the break.
So I think this would be a non-issue if we'd just all follow the lead of the "extraordinarily attentive" prius drivers of Andrew Leonard's community.
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Ah, Lynx....
The biggest flaw in the "personal silent warning" system is that, in the US, it's impossible to get routine safety inspections for mechanical problems as basic as bald tires in most places. And I wouldn't put it past Rugged Individualists to just disable the thing on principle.
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Argh!
I can't understand why so many people are overreacting to a non issue. As has been pointed out above, there has never been an accident where a blind person was hit by a prius because they couldn't see it. Why are you all so up in arms?
Also, those of you who do have the power of sight and are whining about how you were almost hit by a Prius one time or another - Pay Attention! You are walking in the street! Pay attention to what is going on around you and it won't be a problem.
Legislation is not the answer to everything. If we pass a law requiring hybrids/electric cars to make noise, soon there will be some upset pedestrian suing to make sure bikes all have to make noise too.
Take some time to think about a real solution instead of immediately demanding legislation to a problem no one has really seen.
If we're passing any noise related legislation for vehicles, it should be to ban harleys. There's absolutely no reason for anything other than an airplane to make that much noise.
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Like The Idea Of A Radio Beacon
I think it's a great idea. All cars should be equipped with one, not just the hybrids - would make it a lot easier for the blind to hear cars approaching, even if they're coasting in neutral, backing up slowly or traveling in an area with a lot of background noise.
Having hybrids make more noise seems to undo one of their big advantages - they produce less noise pollution than standard cars.
>The difference in this case is that their
>"need" for this special device is created
>solely by your selfish lack of willingness
>to accommodate their special needs.
Why should we increase the amount of noise pollution just to alleviate a "problem" of dubious concern? And are you also going to address the fact that bicycles also don't make any noise, and are more than capable of plowing into a blind person and killing them without warning?
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A quieter world
I was so looking forward to a quieter environment. Do we have to add noise to the quiet cars, just as OSHA requires backup beepers on construction vehicles? Have you ever lived in a construction zone? I'm sure the backup beepers save lives, but they cost the loss of a quieter environment. Do we need new laws to save lives? Enforcing existing laws would be an improvement. Drivers are supposed to yield to pedestrians. Drivers are also supposed to stop before turning right against red lights, stop for stop signs, stop if it can be done safely when faced with a yellow light, stop for pedestrians in crosswalks or who want to cross at a crosswalk, obey speed limits, signal lane changes and turns, not tailgate, and reduce speed in occupied school zones. I suppose a person who has been a invalid shut-in for the last 30 years might believe all drivers do these things.
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Let's pose this as a statistical question
What is the maximum annual rate of dead or maimed blind people that Prius owners would be willing to tolerate before they would be willing to change anything about their own cars?
As the number of Prius drivers increases, I suppose we'll find our answer.
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Number of blind on disability
The current unemployment rate among blind Americans is a little more than 70% (on a side note- this is not because blind people aren't adept, it is because the educational system isn't teaching Braille anymore! Talking books have replaced Braille, and so now we've got an illiteracy epidemic. 90% of Braille readers are employed) Check out www.nfb.org for answers about this stuff.
Anyway- I wanted to give an answer to this question. The blind as a whole don't have a lot of disposable income.
And, just to throw my hat in the ring, if I went blind, I would not want to have to put my trust & faith in the hands of drivers, simply relying on them not to hit me. I don't even do that now!