Blind people hate hybrid cars.
Why?
They're too damn quiet.
Now you might say, well I've never seen a blind person crossing the road before.
I said that too. The next month, I saw three blind people crossing the road on campus.
In fact, today my boyfriend saw a blind person with a leader dog almost get hit by a hybrid car. Luckily the dog was there and stopped and walked around the car.
Luckily, I live on a campus that is very blind-friendly. There are sections of raised bumps that indicate you'll enter the road, and the walk signs talk and count down. However, it me thinking....
We all know it's hard for anyone with a disability, especially the loss of a sense. I think we do not give them enough credit. Many people who are, for lack of a better word, sense-less are independent just like the rest of us. They rely on a dog or a cane to get around and constantly have to put trust in other people that they will treat them the right way, help them out, and not hit them.
Hybird cars aren't the problem. The people driving the cars are the problem. What kind of person are you that you do not stop or slow down for a blind person? They should not be afraid to cross the road because they cannot hear the hybrid cars coming. They shouldn't have to worry about it.
Pedestrians have the right of way.
I didn't realize hybrid cars were becoming a problem in this way. I want to own a hybrid car one day and I'll definitely slow down and stop for people who don't hear or notice me coming. Pedestrians do indeed have the right away because speeding cars, even great environmentally friendly hybrid cars, can kill people.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
One of the very few things I like about hybrid cars is the lack of noise pollution.
It seems like there should be simple technology that can solve this problem and also preserve the benefit that the rest of us get from the quiet. Perhaps the hybrid could emit either a radio signal or a high-pitched (above human hearing) noise. The blind could carry a tiny receiver that would recevice this signal and amplify it so that the blind would be made aware of danger.
But generally, if your goal of owning a hybrid is to do something good for the environment, you might consider buying a Hummer SUV instead.
Hummer vs. hybrid report raises controversy
That radio signal/high-pitched noise idea is great. I didn't even think of that!
That IS a good idea! Do you know if anything like this is manufactured anywhere?
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I'm not sure if anybody has thought of applying this technology in this particular way. But essentially we are talking about a very simple radio transmitter in the car and a very simple radio receiver carried by the blind person (perhaps built into that white cane they carry?). Picture a $29 pair of walkie talkies. Take the receiver out of one of them and give it to the blind person. Take the transmitter out of the other and install it in the car. Every hybrid manufactured would need to have a transmitter. It would add a few dollars to the cost.
The cars would transmit the warning sqawk at all times at very low short range power over a dedicated radio channel for that purpose. Every blind person who carried a receiver tuned to that chanel would be protected. Everybody else would enjoy silence unless they happened to be standing near a blind person in which case they would hear the radio sqawk when a hybrid was near.
A slight modification would allow this system to blink a light or give a light shock to help deaf people deal with the same problem if they carried the device.
They are making weak RFID transmitters small enough to be inserted under the skin that broadcast such a low power signal. People are using them "Clubbing" in Miami and they are also in our new more secure US Passports.
This is all very feasible relatively low tech stuff. It would be more complex but there might be a way to make it directional and give it different squawk tones. That would take an engineer but I bet it is possible and it would make things even safer.
Feel free to patent these ideas. I'll consider it my contribution to progressivism for the week.
This could be huge! Life changing for some people! What a great idea!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I keep busy enough with my businesses.
For this idea to bear fruit it needs somebody to lobby for it vigorously in Congress so that having the cars equipped with transmitters becomes the law. I think that job would best be done by an advocacy group for the blind.
I'm sure such organizations exist but I have no idea who they are or how to contact them or how to get their attention if I did contact them. Often unless you talk to just the right person, such ideas fall on deaf ears (or blind eyes). Just getting the people who would be helped to listen would be an effort that I am not interested in putting out.
But I hearby give permission to anybody who wants to implement my idea to use it with my permission and with no obligation to me.
I am a interpreter for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Sometimes I work with people who are Deaf and Blind. For them, it doesn't matter how loud the car is, they still can't hear it. I imagine this is a similar sensation for Blind folks when it comes to hybrid cars. The Deaf-Blind folks I work with will usually have a sign, or a card, or something (because they can't speak to anyone nearby) that asks to please guide them across the street when it is ok to cross. I know many blind people who ask nearby pedestrians if it's safe to cross or not. But, as commented above, ultimately, the driver is responsible for not hitting anyone with their car, hybrid, or not.
This is weird. I was actually thinking about this the other day. But you're right, it's the driver's fault. They need to be aware of everything, including anyone they could potentially hit with their too-quiet vehicle.
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Mind Control is Easier Than You Think
It's almost always the driver's fault.
But that does not do the poor blind pedestrian any good when they are scraping him up off the crosswalk with a razor blade and a rubber squeegy.
Drivers make mistakes. I have almost been run over on more than one occassion. I think both my eyes and ears have played a role in keeping me from being a grease spot.
But silence is golden. I have no desire to get rid of one of the few redeeming qualities of hybrid cards to meet the needs of less than a small fraction of 1% of our population. As I suggested above there must be a solution that allows us to eat our cake and have it too.
Great subject matter...definatly something that has been overlooked. And it's true, people with disablities don't recieve enough credit. After reading this I will definalty think to be more careful and respectful of the pedestrians crossing the street. Successful blog!
My brother just recently lost his vision due to a brain injury in a motorcycle accident. Now I am ESPECIALLY worried because he keeps trying to get out of the house to take walks, but refuses to use a cane or walker or ANYTHING that may signal to drivers that he cannot see. He does have about 25% vision in one eye, but is blind in the other. He assures us when he hears a car, he makes sure he gets out of the way, but what does he do when he can't hear the car? The fact that he's too embarrassed to walk around without a cane is enough to worry us all to death, but if he can't even hear on-coming traffic, how is he to protect himself from getting hit? Of course all drivers should be aware of all pedestrians, but how do you even know if the pedestrian can even see or hear you?