More on Quiet Cars

2/13/2007 11:26:00 AM

The Wall Street Journal has published an excellent article on the dangers that “quiet cars” pose to blind pedestrians and others.  The National Federation of the Blind and our Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety are prominently featured in the piece.  Unfortunately, it looks as though we face an uphill battle in convincing automobile manufacturers and advocates of hybrid vehicles that the danger to blind pedestrians is real.

Sev MacPete, founder of the Toyota Prius Club of San Diego, dismisses the idea that hybrids pose a safety threat. He says blind pedestrians are easy to spot because they usually have a special white cane with red tip. "And if you could say anything about hybrid drivers, they are more aware of their surroundings than other drivers," Mr. MacPete says.

Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong says he wasn't aware of the issue and believes that the responsibility lies with drivers and pedestrians to watch out for each other. Mr. Kwong adds, "One of the benefits of the vehicles is that they don't contribute to traffic noise."

We doubt that Mr. MacPete’s generalizations about hybrid drivers are any more true than they are about automobile operators in general. And we note that the Toyota spokesman doesn’t say how blind pedestrians are supposed to watch out for hybrid vehicles.  If the cavalier attitudes of the San Diego Prius club and the Toyota spokesman towards the safety of blind pedestrians 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.