Hybrid cars
08/07/2008
What's all the noise about?
Here at duck2water, online car insurance company, we are constantly reporting on greener motoring issues. The advent of the hybrid car has been seen as one of the foremost projects in the fight to lower harmful CO2 emissions; thus delivering a sweeter smelling, quieter brand of motoring.
However, this quieter brand of motoring may sound idyllic, but for many road users who rely on hearing cars in order to avoid them, this is not be the manna from heaven that it designed to be.
For some time, campaign groups and charitable organisations for the blind have made their feelings well known on the matter. Many blind people, especially those that live without a guide dog, will find their first contact with a hybrid quite unsettling.
When going below 20-25 mph hybrid cars use their electric motor for power and this is virtually silent. Once rolling, the vehicle will produce tyre noise and aerodynamic interference, still on a low level, but audible at close range. Hybrid cars are at perhaps their most dangerous when idling, for instance waiting at a crossing or in a car park or driveway.
Cyclists, joggers and small children could also be affected by the low noise vehicles. Cyclists waiting at busy junctions often react to what they can hear around them, if they can't hear the idling engine, when they move off from the junction, they may well ride into the path of an oncoming hybrid vehicle.
A blind person, even with a guide dog, can easily misconstrue the silence and walk in front of a hybrid as it moves off.
Guide dog re-training sessions have started to take place over the country, and so far perception of the vehicles presence by the animals has been reportedly encouraging. But, although a guide dog may stop on seeing a quiet hybrid vehicle, the owner may be confused by the hesitance if there is no sound to trigger vehicle awareness.
In the US concern over low-noise hybrid cars has been so great that the Federal government has recently passed the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008 proposing a two year study into providing non visual clues for pedestrians by hybrid cars. The automotive industry will then be given two years to implement any regulations into their new vehicles.
Our brains are very perceptive of nearby sounds. Research has shown that when we hear an approaching sound ~ as opposed to receding or remaining stationary sound ~ the brain's regions that deal with attention and motor action are quickly alerted. The auditory brain also possesses a disproportionately large number of cells that can detect the loudness of increasing sound; thus enabling heightened perception of anything approaching.
This enhanced awareness of approaching sounds gives us the ability to determine our motor actions and if necessary take evasive action. If the noises aren't there and we remain unsighted of the approaching object, we cannot determine an appropriate course of action.
So, hybrid manufacturers are being encouraged to develop auditory stimulus to improve perception of the vehicle in low speed and idling situations. It has been suggested, for familiarity, the sounds used should mimic normal car noise; so, thankfully no beeping or chirping. More likely will be the simulated sound of a car engine fan or rolling tyres. It is hoped that these sounds will be barely noticeable by most of us, as research has shown that very little sound is needed for the auditory system to warn us about hazards. It just needs to be the right sound, so that we may make the right connection.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is working with the equivalent body in the US, the National Federation of the Blind, to come up with solutions for the problem.
Steve Winyard of the RNIB said, "If you take the sound clues away it all becomes very, very dangerous. If you have little or no sight you very much depend upon sounds and also touch to cross the road."
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme he commented on the worrying number of "near-misses" that had occurred in the UK.
Although online car insurance companies are pleased to be able to offer lower motor insurance rates on greener cars of low insurance groups, research into the safety of these vehicles must be carried out and problem solving strategies need to be deployed as a priority.
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