The Blind Versus Hybrid Cars
There’s one group of people who aren’t big fans of hybrid vehicles: The blind.
After a near-accident in California in which a blind man walked in front of a moving Toyota Prius — his seeing-eye dog pulled him back in time — there is new concern over these quiet cars. When braking or starting from a dead stop — two actions common near intersections — many hybrids run solely on an electric motor, which can be extremely quiet. The National Federation of the Blind is suggesting that the auto industry introduce some way to make hybrids loud enough to be heard over ambient traffic noise to prevent accidents.
I’ve tested many hybrid cars. When I drove a Prius for the first time, I happened to be driving slowly down an alley and almost ran over a pedestrian plugged into an iPod because, not only could he not see me coming, he couldn’t hear the tires on the pavement or the quiet electric motor. You’re also supposed to honk when coming through a blind alley, but I admit I didn’t this time. Usually, a non-iPod-wearing pedestrian can hear a car coming without having to look.
Hybrid owners I hear from like the fact that the cars are so quiet. It doesn’t seem likely that artificially added noise will go over well with consumers.
