How Many Blind People Have Been Hit By A Prius?

If the driver hits a blind person at a crosswalk, that's the driver's negligence. If the blind person is jaywalking, well, isn't that illegal anyways? I mean a blind person should know that jaywalking can be particularly dangerous for them. I really don't see the issue, and why we should create more noise pollution to further accommodate a quite small portion of society. There has to be a better way. Oh wait, there is: Crosswalks.

Again the VW Beetle is the answer to the question. Get a TDI (diesel) and you'll have all the fuel economy (50mpg highway) and it will be loud enough to scare away any blind people who otherwise would have been hit by a hybrid.

Bikes are quiet, too. But maybe no one's talking about that because cyclists are more careful? Not all of us, but...
:^)

Sounds like the oil lobby trying to make a problem where there isn't one.

Do blind people get hit by bicycles all the time then? Bicycles are quiet as well.

OK, this is nuttier than the Hummer is greener than a Prius crap.

Since we are talking about pedestrian side-streets and neighborhoods, we're talking low speed, like 25-35mph.

Take ANY modern compact car, or even mid-size, drive it at 25-35 mph, have someone stand on the sidewalk with a Radio Shack digi decibel meter, and drive by them a couple of times. Make sure the car is travelling at a constant speed while approaching. Then take a Prius in full EV mode and do the same.

Tell me what you find out. I'm not gonna give any hints as I have actually participated in this exact experiment, except it was with an old small pickup that had been converted to a full EV.

Oh what the heck, I'll give one hint: tire noise.

=== author's response follows ===
Excellent insight BioW.

New Rule. All draft laws pertaining in any fashion to alternative energy, efficient vehicles, etc get posted first on TreeHugger....until our elected officials actually get advise from competent scientists and technicians.

Prius' aren't totally silent though. I was taking groceries to my car the other day and heard this odd humming behind me (amidst the packed parking lot full of normal cars). I thought, "Is that a Prius?" and surely enough a Prius drove by. Now, if I can hear a Prius coming, I have full faith a blind person (who most likely has a heightened sense of hearing due to being blind) will be able to hear one. I don't care if it is electric, those engines are not completely silent.

I need this, nearly got smacked by one of these silent deaths while riding my even higher on the green-o-scale food chain grocery getting bike.

That and teenage girls should never be allowed to drive.

This is, actually, a problem. I myself once stepped in front of a very silent tram in Germany. I would have been hit but for the driver, who rang his bell on time for me to step back.

It's important to point out that this is the only time something like this has happened to me. I've lived in the city, haven't owned a car, walked or cycled everywhere, for ten years now. In all that time, I've stepped in front of vehicles twice: one was the tram, the other, a bike. See the pattern?

Of course it's everyone's responsibility to keep themselves safe. OK. Be self-righteous if you want. But the reality is that urban environments are chaotic places, and we all get careless eventually. Those of us who navigate them on a daily basis have learned subconsciously to use all our senses, especially hearing. Seeing, but not hearing, a vehichle has a slightly jarring "something's wrong" tinge to it, kind of like seeing a friend with a completely new hairstyle for the first time.

Of course, with more EVs on the street, we'll eventually evolve a new set of protection behaviours in response to the new conditions. But let's not gloss over the difficulties of transition.

Another worthless political distraction...

OK, the only thing I have found in a quick google is that someone was ALMOST hit by a Prius. I think a problem is being manufactured because some don't like the popularity of the Hybrids. I can't even find a documented injury caused by a "silent" hybrid.

Ummm doesn't the Prius have a horn just like any other car? And can't you purchase a bell for your bike?

Something here smells fishy. All cars are involved in accidents. Most frequently with other cars. Less frequently with bicycles, and least frequently with pedestrians. Out of that small group of run-over pedestrians, how many are blind? About half a percent of the population in the western world is "legally blind". How many of those are involved in car accidents? I'm willing to bet that their relative accident-ratio is lower than that of their non-blind counterparts.

So .. I wonder. How many blind people have been hit by silent cars? There aren't that many silent cars to begin with. The odds of a blind person being hit by a silent car are astronomically small. Not quite sure why legislators seem to be making a problem where there is none.

The *real* problem is poor pedestrian -- and cyclist -- infrastructure. That, and too damned many cars. Those are the problems that need to be tackled. Not the silence of cars or the lack thereof.

But I guess that better sidewalks and bicycle lanes are more expensive than telling Toyota to make louder cars. Loud pipes *do not* save lives. It's a false sense of security.

I've had to jump out of the way of more than one Prius in grocery store parking lot. My young son was almost hit, even though he was holding my hand as we walked and I was in my usual hypervigilant parking lot paranoia state. This is a huge problem, and I'm happy to see it addressed. The fix is simple -- use a beeper when you back up, like delivery trucks do.

Oh my goiodness!! How dare we try do adapt to change!!
Who Moved My Cheese!!?? (Otherwise known as the layoff book).

If you drive a truck (a real one) or tractor-trailer, you are conscious of the idea you need more room to maneuver. If you ride a motorcycle, you know you can't whip around that nasty turn like in a car.
If you ride a bicycle you know that moron pedestrians will cross against the red light WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING. YOU HAVE TO COMPENSATE ... meaning be less lazy and pay attention to everyone around you more... and act accordingly.
There already is a noise making device on the Prius, ... it's called a horn. It contributes to urban blight but it can save a life. Drive slower and look around.

vsk

Please. Just stop. Sounds like someone is on a witchhunt for fuel efficient threats to the oil business. I drive a Prius and yes, it is quiet when the electric is on, but whatever happened to driving carefully? Especially if you see someone step in front of your car. The driver needs to drive carefully enough to avoid sudden obstacles, and the pedestrian needs to be careful enough to cross legally and be aware of obstacles. I don't want anyone to get hurt, but the responsibility belongs there, not on the car.

Maybe people need to learn to drive.

Isn't the beauty of new technology how quiet it is?

This is such a bogus argument. Might as well require bicyclists attach a playing card with a clothespin to their wheel fork so it makes that rapid putter sound. If you live out in the country, people put special deer whistles on the front of their vehicles to keep deer from hitting their noisy vehicles at night. So it's an easy technological fix. Put a whistle that makes a noise at all speeds so blind people can hear them.

These are the same kind of people who argue against wind turbines cause they kill birds. Less birds will be killed by wind turbines generating the same amount of power that an equivalent amount of burning coal would. Turning off unnecessary lights in buildings and houses in the evens would save a lot of birds birds and cut down greenhouse gas emissions at the same time.

This is just silly. People who have said they were almost hit by a Prius in a parking lot, then look before you walk out into traffic. If blind people are truly relying on the sound of a car to determine whether to walk across a street or not, that's a pretty bad method. Even with normal cars they are bound to make a mistake and get hit.

What next, flashing lights for deaf people??

One problem I have noted is the near-universal belief (in my neck of the woods, at least) that "the pedestrian always has the right-of-way," with jaywalking being some antiquated or just completely unknown concept. Besides, what ever happened to "look both ways before you cross the street"?

Granted, if you step out in front of my car, I have the legal and moral duty to do everything I can to avoid hitting you, but that doesn't mean you had the right to put me in that position. No difference here between a pedestrian stepping in front of me than another car pulling out in front of me.

Another problem is how many people not only jaywalk, but do it diagonally. Just a few days ago I had to almost completely stop to avoid hitting a guy who was crossing a two-lane residential street but was more walking down the middle of it than crossing it.

My suspicion is that the vision-impaired are more cautious and observant than those who are 20/20.

@Galls:

I live here in rotterdam, where we have some really cool electric trams, look them up in wikipedia you can see how cool they actually are. Even though they are electric, I can hear them from like, my balcony, which points the other way and is 2 blocks away.

The trams do drive through some busy streets, even straight through some high density shopping area's, but everyone hears it coming, and if the rolling thunder didn't wake you up from your shopping spree, the loud bells, or if its already too late for that, the screeching brakes certainly will. followed by some angry public transport users flying through the tram :-P haha, but seriously.

Blind people getting hit by cars is always the cars fault, so EV drivers should just drive safely with their silent motor in mind.

is this serious? I am sure that more blind people get hit by harleys than hybrids.... figures anybody?

While I am a sighted person, I was hit by a Prius once while I was in the cross-walk on my bike. The driver took a right turn without looking and smacked right into me.

All I could think about was how lucky I am that a small prius hit me instead of a giant SUV (which are common in my philly suburb). If it was a SUV, I'd probably be a lot more banged up.
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I never did get compensated for the damage done to my bike and person though as I was in such a state of shock I didn't catch the license plate number. Nuts

I have a project car I'm slowly turning into an EV and actually I've thought about this alot. Even EV's make noise when you drive but I think the problem is it's a different type of noise. When I drive down a residential street and there are kids playing ball or something in the street I don't get very far until they take their toys and wait on the sidewalk for me to pass even if they have thier backs turned to me and never turn around to look. So I have to wonder which is it. Did they hear a noise and clear out or are they conditioned to listen for the noise of a gasoline/diesel car and move. I think it's the second which is why I'm also considering buying something that is normally marketed to gear heads who like fast cars. They make a piece of audio equipment that can be easily turned off and on that makes your car sound like another car. It's usually used to make a low end mustang sound like a high end mustang etc. but it would do the trick and I could turn it on when I felt I was in an area where pedestrians were prone to pay less attention and off when I felt I didn't need it. Not saying it should be mandatory, just saying that if your worrried, it's an option.

Ok. Some points.

Most places, I am aware of, in the US -- when pedestrians get injured or killed, the police does not record in the records that the person was blind. Hence, statistics are not available. So we do have an element of emotionality to the issue but also we just don't know fact wise the raw numbers even since the advent of the car.

Second, I have heard that bikes are a problem but most bicyclists are at pedestrian (or lower in the case of recumbents) level and on a very narrow bike vs a car --- they can maneuvre around pedestrians last second quite readily. When they do impact it tends to be less severe or problematic than if a car hit the person due to the mass and size of a car vs a bike.

Third -- as one of the commenters noted, what about pedestrians not walking in a straight line. Blind people cannot see if there is a painted line or stoplights. They may walk in a slightly crooked line due to this.

I am EXTREMELY suspicious of this bill! I am sure there arent any blind person lobbys behind it but the detroit auto makers and maybe oil and no im not paranoid!

Think about it....

1. there arent that many hybrid/ev cars on the road yet

2. they do make noise when moving just not when sitting still

3. ok a blind person "MIGHT" walk into one at an intersection BUT why would they be walking where a car is stopped anyways? I have NEVER seen a blind person do they they always find the walkway in FRONT of the cars.... hmm

4. I may be wrong but I think that hybrid / ev car drivers are probably MORE not less responsible drivers

5. Just because your car doesnt make noise when its not moving DOESNT MEAN you are going to be mowing down pedestrians any more often!

6. How many people have been hit by a hybrid/ev car and what does its silence have to do wtih you hitting anyone ANYWAYS??

7 And what are the %of these these "hit" people blind?

I will bet that ZERO yes 0 blind peopld have been hit by a hybrid / ev car

and I cant imagine a blind person walking into one at an intersection again because what is the car doing in the walk path and what would a blind person be doin outside a walk path??

ALSO I would think that blind people WOULD WELCOME SILENT CARS as this would allow them to hear more of everything, I could be wrong but dont blind people have to stop at intersections and listen carefully to sort out sounds out of all the Lound gas engines..

if anything laws should be passed to make gas cars more silent! imagine what a hemi or hi powered vehicle or loud motorcycle was be like to a blind person?

and if you look at it objectively why do silent cars have to make more noise and noisy cars not have to be more silent??

I am SURE it is not blind people behind this but just another plot by detroit/oil to hurt the hybrid /ev market!

Electric cars are quite.

The pedestrian/bike rider needs to know that the car is there.

Drivers don't always pay attention. (Been there, got the scars.)

Upscale cars are being equipped with crash avoidance systems, so we know the technology exists to detect things in its path. (And I think it's inexpensive.)

Use radar/infrared and an efficient electric beeper to signal the potential victim. (Two stage - "be aware" - "dive!".)

Bingo...

http://gizmodo.com/378152/ford-blind-spot-system-uses-radar-to-save-your-ass

....Oh Sure !.......................

Why don't those legistalive geniuses mandate that all hybrids, electric cars and golf carts blast out rap music even if they are parked. That way any blind person would know if they are approaching even a parked hybrid car and immediately turn away.......Or maybe we should reverse the logic and mandate all blind people blast out rap music so that evil hybrid drivers can identify them and not strike them according to plan.

Just to be clear, the gentleman I was referring to was walking in a straight line. The problem is that it was almost parallel to the street he was crossing, and ON the street he was crossing. He wanted to go from point A to point B and was able to save about four steps (four steps out of a few hundred) by walking the hypotenuse of the triangle.

Just to be clear, the gentleman I was referring to was walking in a straight line. The problem is that it was almost parallel to the street he was crossing, and ON the street he was crossing. He wanted to go from point A to point B and was able to save about four steps (four steps out of a few hundred) by walking the hypotenuse of the triangle.

didn't we have the same debate about a century ago about horseless carriages?

Sure, bicyclists hit people too, including vision impaired individuals I imagine. But bicycles don't weigh two tons or travel 35+ mph.

Here in my town, where the Prius swarm, we experience temperatures below freezing. As a result, many people use studded tires (destroying the roads) which make enough noise that you can't drive 5 mph without hearing them.

But as a solution - how to balance safety against noise pollution is another problem; and not destroying the growing popularity of EVs as viable alternatives to gas hogs.

Next on the congressional agenda - how to make land-mines biodegradable.

Hubby and I bought a Prius just a few weeks ago, and already we've noticed that when exiting the parking structure at work we have to be even more careful than usual coming around corners because folks walking from their cars to the stairs/elevators (who have never been that careful to begin with) can't hear our car in EV mode. We've startled SEVERAL people when they finally do hear it and realize how close we are.

So, yes, we compensate for this, and people really ought to be more careful as well as that's just good sense. I have no idea how people with impaired vision would fare. However, since no facts/stats seem to be available on how they can't hear EVs coming, one could just as easily argue that with heightened hearing they would have no problems hearing EVs coming. The logical thing then is to run some studies. Anyone want to write a grant proposal? It would be a lovely master's thesis, you could title it something like, "The Future of Quiet: Electric Vehicles, Vision Impairments, and Manslughter."

Hi, I drive a prius for 2,5 year now and I found out that a prius when driving from 15 miles/hour makes noise. Tire noise. It happened several times that I'm driving and bicycles hear me when I'm driving behind them, except when other cars are around.
One time I drove to a boy standing behind a ball and he scarred a lot when he saw me behind him at 6 feet, this time I was driving straight and at 2-3 miles/hour.

I'm sorry, but the quote that "that hybrid / ev car drivers are probably MORE not less responsible drivers" is absolutely ridiculous. A bad driver is a bad driver...regardless of what kind of car they drive...or how loud or ecologically responsible their car is. period.

I've been nearly hit by a Prius at a crosswalk. The driver, hell-bent on getting to the Whole Foods parking garage neglected to look both ways (or stop) and rolled through the stop sign at the intersection I was attempting to cross at. If I hadn't been watching the driver for some eye-contact, I would have been hit. At that moment I wondered what would have happened if I hadn't been able to see the driver...the car was rolling slowly (and silent) with the driver looking at the WF and not the street...when he accelerated through the crosswalk (and nearly my shins) there certainly was motor noise...which could have been followed closely by painful screams.

Perhaps if everyone...pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists were a little more aware of each other and their surroundings this wouldn't be so much of an issue.

By the way...in California there is a section of the driver's manual devoted to electric cars and using caution at cross walks. If I remember the section correctly, it specifically references the blind and vision impaired. I would imagine that there has to be at least one instance of this occurring to warrant a revision of DMV protocol.

And additionally, how would including some device to allow elec vehicles to emit an audible signal "hurt" the sale or production of electric/hybrid cars?? Does anyone buy these cars because they're silent when moving at a near-crawl? It doesn't have to be similar to a dump truck in reverse...perhaps a subtle audible alert that could be unique to the technology. who knows...maybe it would enhance the "responsibility" that so many drivers of these cars like the tout.

The commenters here who are minimizing this issue are IN DENIAL. I am a big fan of electric vehicles but I also have lived in a number of dense urban areas with a mix of vehicles, pedestrians, and bikes. At low speeds, the sound of internal combustion engines allows pedestrians to orient to a potential threat, especially if it behind them. Honestly, anyone of you has used the sound of engines as pedestrians to orient to a potential danger.

I am concerned about EVs running over small children in driveways, etc. All it takes is one tragedy and EVs will get a big black eye.

I don't think this is a conspiracy against electric vehicles...I am a big advocate of them..it is simply intelligent RISK MANAGEMENT.

Crazy stuff. This one is a good joke.
Obviously the association of the blind people:) will get fat checks from the oil and auto industry.

I have a Prius and I do see this as a problem. To get my sons to school, I have to drive through a very crowded street where there is an apartment complex. There are cars parked all up and down the street, and it makes it very difficult for pedestrians who are trying to cross the street to see until they get out in the street past the parked cars.

There have been a number of pedestrians who have looked very surprised to see me right there because there was no audible warning. I drive very slowly through the complex.

It is a problem, and I would like to see a sensible, creative, solution that doesn't cause dissension.

Not to contradict you, Michael, but I would point out that not every ICE vehicle is loud. The '94 Toyota Celica I had until a few years ago purred like the proverbial kitten when idling, particularly after I started using Mobil 1 and installed a K&N Filter Charger. When driving slowly through a parking lot I was nearly silent. I cannot count the number of times I found myself behind someone walking down the middle of the lane who never heard my approach. My brief tap to the horn, although I always tried to make it as nonthreatening as possible, would still make these people nearly wet themselves when they realized I was there.

Carter L stated:

"I was hit by a Prius once while I was in the cross-walk on my bike."

Is this an attempt at irony?

Y'know... crosswalk... bike...

Electric cars are too quiet....right ok then. Sounds pretty ridiculous to me! I think noise pollution is a huge problem that adds stress to people's lives, what about that angle? I'm all for quieter cars and a quieter life in general.