Category: News and Views
From USA Today dated 11/25/09
GM works to make some noise
By Chris Woodyard
General Motors will announce today that it's working with one of the largest advocacy organizations for the vision-impaired to find ways for the next-generation
electric cars to make enough noise that pedestrians can hear them coming.
GM says it's working with the National Federation of the Blind on technology to make sure that near-silent electric cars and hybrids don't sneak up on unsuspecting
walkers or runners.
It's potentially a growing problem as the nation switches to battery-powered cars as an alternative to high-priced gasoline. A bill that would direct the
Transportation Department to regulate a solution -- the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act -- was introduced in Congress earlier this year.
One study already points to dangers. Walkers and bicyclists are being struck at a greater rate by hybrid vehicles than by conventional cars, concluded the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in September.
I've had probably 25 blind people in the country tell me they've almost been hit by these cars," says NFB President Marc Maurer. Vehicles brushed up against
some or crushed their white canes, he says.
Maurer says he believes electric cars of the future will need to be equipped with a forward-directed sound device that operates without interruption while
the car is in motion. All electric vehicles will have to make roughly the same artificial noise, he says, so that blind people will be able to distinguish
them as moving vehicles.
Automakers balk at going that far for the moment. Toyota, the largest producer of hybrid cars, says it is still studying the issue. So is Nissan, which
plans to introduce the all-electric Leaf next year.
GM already is equipping its new Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car with a driver-activated warning system. The car will emit a short audible horn
pulse about as loud as the ring of a telephone when the driver pulls back on the turn-signal switch.
We want to make sure it is something friendly and not startling," says Volt's chief engineer, Andrew Farah. He says they already believed the sound had
to be "clearly automotive" in nature. And the collaboration with the federation is aimed at seeing if something more is needed.
Other automakers aren't so sure. Tesla, which already has sold about 900 all-electric Roadsters, is reluctant to make noise.
One of the top attributes that our customers bring up is that (the car) is so quiet," says spokeswoman Rachel Konrad. The majority of the sound is not from
the engine. It's tire noise and wind resistance.
As a result, she says, Tesla is monitoring research and regulations around the issue as it might affect its $109,000 two-seater, but probably won't add a noisemaker unless there is a "compelling reason.
Bravo for GM. Wonder what some employees at some of these other companies would say if one of their loved ones was hit by these quiet cars? The thought is a very scarey one. Personally, I love cars that make noise in general, and think even the gas-powered ones are too quiet. But that's a preference. The same doesn't hold true when it's a matter of life or death. I mean, even if a driver doesn't like noise, would they rather be responsible for killing someone just so they could have a quiet car? I guess these guys are saying yes. But maybe, GM will lead the way and others will follow suit when forced to do so.
Do you remember the noise that the cars make in the Jetson's Cartoon?
That would be a good sound. In fact, I think that the futuristic cartoon NFB colaberated with Hanna Barbera to come up with that sound.
Smiles.
Thom
Yay for GM! I've always liked GM anyway. Most of my friends and family owna GM vihicle of some kind. I'mhoping they do influence some of these other auto-maker idiots to make some noise.
I just read another article in a magazine called Popular Science about this same subject. Didn't really say anything different but I gather from both articles that most car makers are resisting this idea, and so are a lot of drivers.
Well these cars are great silent, and most drivers believe they are good drivers, so don't need it. I guess you could argue even cars that make sound hit people, and I know some people that see that get hit, so. Or I should say have been hit. The only thing you can hear from these electric cars is the wheels rolling, provided it's not a mild windy day.
Smile. I think they should follow Mercedes Benz example and equip the car with a radar system that stops the car if it gets to close to a object. That way it takes the choice from the driver. Now that feature can be shut off, but I believe it should be made passive and always on if you are city driving, or if you car is silent. That way they can have the silent car, but we stay safe. I also thing maybe on busy streets gates, like on a train track should drop when the light is red. hahaha. Yep, and give me a driver, that will solve all this. Smile.
Forereel, your idea about radar, while it has some merit, is in no way an adequate replacement for good old fashion noise. I've just done some research into vehicle stopping distances and it makes for interesting, if uncomfortable reading for those of us that wish to cross roads safely without being able to see what's coming.
There are many factors to consider that make giving exact calculations impossible but these numbers are reasonably close. A vehicle travelling at just 30MPH will need 75 feet of space in which to stop, a vehicle travelling at twice this speed will need 240 feet in which to come to a stand still. Now here's the thing, as a visually impaired person, if you can't hear these vehicles then it is entirely possible that you could step out in front of one way inside these stopping distances. Now the reason that I say that your radar system would help, without being a total solution is that part of the stopping distance calculated is to factor in thinking time. Thinking time is estimated at 1 foot for every mile an hour you're travelling at. 30 miles an hour, 30 feet. 60 miles an hour, 60 feet and so on. one assumes that a radar system would cut out this thinking time. Never the less, even with a radar system a car would still need 45 feet of stopping time at 30 miles an hour, and an even more frightening 180 feet of space in which to stop at twice that speed. So at 60MPH if you, as a visually impaired person couldn't hear the vehicle coming and stepped out while it was still 40 yards away, entirely possible when the vehicle is making almost no noise, there isn't a hope in hell that it could stop in time, not even with a radar system. Without a radar system of course you then have to factor in thinking time too which would mean that the car should have been applying breaks at 60 yards from you, when in fact it would have already travelled well over half that distance before the driver even reacted.
Frankly with all that said, it is tough if people like their cars noiseless and that some manufacturers are reluctant to change things. Visually impaired people need to be able to hear what's going on around them in order to do things safely. It's common sense.
Dan.