Comments on: Honk if You're a Hybrid

By: Dee Mullen

Dee Mullen — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:04:54 +0000

I’m not going to lie… I never really thought of the stealth feature being a danger to the blind. However, with all of this crazy technology we have now a days… I’m sure they can think of some sort of feature, like a soft, but audible beep to alert deaf pedestrians of potential danger.

By: Shonna

Shonna — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:33:21 +0000

I own a 2007 Prius and there is noise when it’s in electric mode – it’s a slight “wurring” noise – it just gets drowned out by the noise of all the gas engines!! Honestly one of the best things about the car (other than the fantastic mileage with gas today at $4.59 a gallon!) is the reduced noise. I’m not unsympathetic to the dilemia for the blind but I think if we as drivers do our job and watch for pedestrians there shouldn’t be a need to make cars noiser. BTW David my car gets 50 mpg with mostly freeway driving – I don’t think you can find that even in the smallest of cars….

By: Rachel N

Rachel N — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:02:23 +0000

Here’s the link:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/29/girasole-electric-car-packs-horse-hoof-warnings/

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:59:48 +0000

Great comments everyone. Hi, Rachel – interesting about the horse sounds. Do you happen to remember the link?

By: Rachel N

Rachel N — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:36:53 +0000

Is this article serious?!

In the UK, we’ve had electric milk delivery vehicles for years, and I have never heard one blind person complain about them.

If you’re that worried about accidents – don’t drive a car at all. Especially not an SUV, as those things are proven to kill and injure more people than any car (quiet or not) with a regular shape.

On a weirder note, I hear that this issue is being addressed in Japan by a speaker mounted on the front of a car that emits the clip-clip of horses hooves. I can kinda see where they’re coming from.

By: Sarah I

Sarah I — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:05:55 +0000

That’s so interesting about hybrids not making any noise. I would always have thought that to be a GOOD thing. As a cyclist, I can hear how horribly loud cars out (drowning out the birds and crickets), but I never even considered that silent cars would be a danger to the blind. Interesting issue.

By: David

David — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:42:43 +0000

They’re a good effort, but they’re not the be-all/end-all. Another debit is that in an accident, they can discharge toxic waste (i.e. acid) from the battery, if it gets broken up. Rescue techs do not like doing accident recovery because of that issue. As to mileage, there are small (not suv size) gas-only cars that will equal the effiency of a hybrid.