Hardware·18,973 discussions

Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

Locked

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21112810/

This is not a troll post on my part. This is one of those things that you would never think about until it happens. The hydrids when running on battery power make no noise. Blind people rely on their sense of sound to detect their environment. They can’t hear them.

There is even a comment from a lady with 20/20 vision who said that she didn’t realize the car was running until she almst was touched by it. They are just that quiet.

The blind are not asking for costly changes, just have the vehciles make a little noise so that they can be detected. Like a humming or something shouldn’t be intrusive??

Of course you have twits that could care less if people get hit because the vehicle can not be detected. They want their peace and quiet. Hope a hydrid runs them over and they never hear it comeing.

I just found this an intresting article and wanted to share.

Dan

Topic

Stick playing cards in the spokes.

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

No, wait; that’s bicycles.

There are companies that sell “sunroof” decals so your car can look like it has a sunroof when it really doesn’t. There were companies that made fake cell phones so you could walk around with an empty case to your head and look important. There are undergarments with padding to enhance the front or back, if you know what I mean. There are companies that make lots of money making exhaust system components to actually make your gasoline engine sound louder, although I don’t know why; it’s very difficult to sneak your girlfriend in late when her father can hear you coming six blocks away.

I’m sure it won’t be long before somebody comes up with a gizmo to make your hybrid sound like it’s got a V-10 under the hood. The pimper’s will be all over it.

Dumb kids like loud

In reply to Stick playing cards in the spokes.

Doesn’t matter if it is a car or a harley, the mentally challenged have always thought if it is louder, it seems like it is going faster.

Hey, I dont think I am dumb

In reply to Dumb kids like loud

I put a stage 2 exhaust on my truck. This was done right after the throttle body spacer and Air Raid air intake system.
But it wasnt done to increase the noise level (although it does sound louder).

Enlighten the ignorant, please.

In reply to Hey, I dont think I am dumb

If it wasn’t done to increase the volume, what was your purpose? From my back porch on a cool fall evening, the benefits of this aren’t obvious.

I did it to help my truck breathe better

In reply to Enlighten the ignorant, please.

the extra noise is a side effect. However, it really is not that much louder than the stock pipe, unless the RPM’s rise above 3,000. This does not happen all that much.
I know someone with a stage 1 in his RAM truck, and Charger. Both are much louder, even at idle.

Oops, what is with me and numbers recently. I have a stage 3 because I didnt want it to be too loud. I was looking at stage 2 but I didnt want to annoy my neighbors. I just wanted better flow of air/exhaust

There is another use for the fake cell phone

In reply to Stick playing cards in the spokes.

I had one from Walgreens filled with cheap candy. While driving down a side street in my neighborhood there were 2 men trying to mug a 12-14 yr old kid. I stopped my car picked up my “cell phone” and pretended to make a call. Meantime other vehicles backed up behind me, started honking. When the 2 men looked up and saw 4 vehicles stopped in the middle of the street watching they took off.

I know, if I were a real man I would have got out of my car and said, “HEY! STOP!”. So I’m a chicken. The kid didn’t wait around either so I have no idea what was goin on.

I don’t know what you mean.

In reply to Stick playing cards in the spokes.

[i]There are companies that sell “sunroof” decals so your car can look like it has a sunroof when it really doesn’t.[/i]

How can a decal make the roof to which it’s applied transparent?

Do you mean you’re genuinely surprised

In reply to I don’t know what you mean.

at how easy it is to fool the general public? :0 🙂

Not my point, actually.

In reply to Do you mean you’re genuinely surprised

I’m going to wait and see if Palmetto gets my little joke before I explain it. I think it’s very funny, but P might disagree.

You ever listen to “Car Talk”?

In reply to Not my point, actually.

This is an actual product. The guys were reading the FAQ from the manufacturer’s web site:

Q: Do I have to cut a hole in my roof?
A: This is a decal. It gives the appearance of a sunroof. It is not an actual sunroof.

Q: What tools do I need?
A: Water, scissors, and a squeegee. This is a decal. It gives the appearance of a sunroof. It is not an actual sunroof.

Q: How do match the sunroof paint with my car?
A: This is a decal. It gives the appearance of a sunroof. It is not an actual sunroof. The center is transparent and allows the existing roof color to show through.

You get the idea.

Now that Palmetto’s replied, my sarcasm was actually directed …

In reply to Do you mean you’re genuinely surprised

at the idea that a sunroof decal would look like anything other than a decal. So, no, I don’t think it’s easy to fool the general public without very carefully placed smoke & mirrors, but it’s a bit amusing how easily some people [b]believe[/b] they can fool us.

What belief?

In reply to Now that Palmetto’s replied, my sarcasm was actually directed …

” … it’s a bit amusing how easily some people believe they can fool us.”

What belief? They’re selling the stupid things. so apparently it is that easy to fool at least some of the general public. Anybody foolish enough to believe others are impressed by a sunroof (or a mobile phone, or artificial enhancements to their anatomy) is foolish enough to buy this stuff.

I have a sunroof

In reply to What belief?

My adorable red Saturn has a sunroof… along with all the pink ribbons on her nose.

Oh d@mn. I live in Minnesota. 6 months of winter every year.

What a waste…

6 months of winter?

In reply to I have a sunroof

How did you get so few? When I lived in the U.P., we had three seasons: July, August, Winter. We had to Trick or Treat in our snowboots, and went to Easter sunrise services on dog sleds. We walked to school in snow so deep it was lunchtime before our testicles descended. And it was uphill both ways, too! And we liked it that way, damn it!

Uhhhh! What’s Winter?

In reply to I have a sunroof

Is that something where you must put on more than a short sleeves?

]:)

Uphill, both ways???

In reply to I have a sunroof

Palmie, I WILL find you. And I will get you.

Yeah, it is only 6 months. But you have to carve out hunting season.

Now it’s 8 months.

Oh, and we are currently missing a crucial bridge. Now it’s 10.

My sunroof is still just as useless as t*ts on…

Scuse me. Extra letters there. Useless as…

Ha! That’s not the [u]general[/u] public.

In reply to What belief?

[i]What belief? They’re selling the stupid things. so apparently it is that easy to fool at least some of the general public.[/i]

Those few people are trying to fool the general public, and evidently believe they can do it. Most of us, ie the general public, aren’t going for it.

Abs, remember you are an exception

In reply to Ha! That’s not the [u]general[/u] public.

You’re a generally brilliant person Abs but in this case, imho, you’ve missed it.

The [i]general public[/i] are putty in the fingers of, um, politicians, beaurocrats, ad-men, product men, etc etc et farking cetera.

It would be unwise to judge others to be of the same high standard as yourself, Absolutely ! 🙂

Major slabs of the world economy rely upon them not being so.

edit shpellink

Okay, Aby,

In reply to Ha! That’s not the [u]general[/u] public.

If the GP is so difficult to fool, how do you explain McDonald’s, “sporty” pick-up trucks, or “Deal or No Deal”?

Is the GP ‘Smart as a Fifth Grader’?

In reply to Ha! That’s not the [u]general[/u] public.

😀

Palmetto, I don’t “explain” those things.

In reply to Ha! That’s not the [u]general[/u] public.

[i]McDonald’s, “sporty” pick-up trucks, or “Deal or No Deal”?[/i]

Let’s see. If you want something about McDonald’s explained, you can talk to their PR dept.

🙂

I don’t know the rate of use of the other two things, but whatever concept they exemplify in your mind, it isn’t [b]generally[/b] applicable, because most people don’t buy them.

😀

cani: Thanks for the kind words.

Not just hybrids

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

I had a bicyclist, going with traffic on the shoulder, angle out in front of me to cross a three lane surface street near a park.

I had at the time a humongo old tank-green colored Lincoln. The large 460 engines don’t rev nearly as much as tiny cars, so very quiet running. It was because he didn’t hear me.

Firstly, pedestrians have right of way. So cars are responsible to see them. Of course blind people are less likely to be able to know where to cross, etc and more likely to be hit by any car.

Crossing noise beepers, and devices that either enhance vision (for those with partial sight, are electronic magnifying glasses) or replace sight (such as blind readable sonar type devices I’ve seen on future-tech shows) are the answer. Forcing cars to pollute when they are quiet (noise is a form of pollution) is wrong.

I was always under the impression

In reply to Not just hybrids

That individuals that lose one of their sensory perceptions(eyesite, hearing, ??) find that their other perceptions are more acute. Hope I said that right.

If that is correct, I don’t think that the solution to this would contribute to noise polution in any significant manner. meaning, I don’t think that these vehicles would need some ear splitting whistle or anything.

Im not trying to gloss over your concern Dr. Just trying to put it into perspective with what I know or have heard.

Dan

Dan, you said it right, but…..

In reply to I was always under the impression

that doesn’t account for age (i.e. general wear and tear)

Acute perceptions come about if a sense is lost/lessened/unformed in the early part of life. The body is still “under construction” as it were, and so has the chance before being fully formed, to compensate.

Sadly, this does not take into account general use of the “older” body – which is why our eyesight lessens, our hearing fades, and our taste buds aren’t as responsive as we get older.

Point of note: my grandfathers friend was deaf and dumb since birth (hence my use of finger spelling!) but on tasting something, could write down exactly what was in it, to the nth degree. If anyone needs to know the exact ingredients and their amounts for Sarsons Pickling Vinegar, I can still remember them! I was totally taken aback at the time!

GG

Blind Kung Fu Masters

In reply to I was always under the impression

One of my fav late nite kung fu flix was the one where the young fellow and the blind kung fu guy were jumping from post to post in a contest and the blind guy would wiggle his ears and know exactly where the other guy was 🙂

They’ve recently been making fun of him on Mad TV.

Sad but misguided special interests often want us to do stupid things that would be good for them. E.g. surfers opposed the second ocean entrance to Bolsa Chica nature reserve here. After it was built they actually like it as surf is better.

We could just execute the blind and remove them from the gene pool

In reply to Not just hybrids

We could also sterilize the handicapped like we did in the 1920s.

This would not only solve the problem of traffic fatalities, but remove a far greater portion of the surplus population than accidents could ever hope to…

If you trying to reduce the surplus population,

In reply to We could just execute the blind and remove them from the gene pool

execute the bad drivers. You’ll get rid of a lot more people than going after the blind. Or give the blind explosive vests and get a two-fer when they get hit.

The bad drivers is good :), but the explosive vests could

In reply to If you trying to reduce the surplus population,

hurt innocent bystanders.

Why not just have every driver retake the written and driving test every 5 years. Then let the police shoot the ones that fail the second time. 😀

Close, but

In reply to The bad drivers is good :), but the explosive vests could

instead of taking the WRITTEN test every five years, have them take the DRIVING test. If they fail, let the blind use them as pinatas.

I like the pinata idea, but

In reply to Close, but

I want them to take the WRITTEN test first to prove they know the rules of driving. A must before alowing them behind the wheel.

Ever watched people at a traffic light that is out of commission? It is supposed to be treated the same as a four way stop. Good luck not being hit. 😀

You know that, and I know that

In reply to I like the pinata idea, but

But we may well be the only people on the planet that do.

In the state I live in, it is written (read LAW) that a driver in the number one traffic lane on any highway or interstate will YIELD to a vehicle merging onto the roadway. Yeah. Right. And a flock of pigs just flew over my house.

I had an 80+ mile commute every day. It took me an hour and a half. After the 35W collapse, it took longer. I had an ongoing conversation with the commuters around me. Things like, “if you get any closer to my tail, I want at least dinner first”.

It seems as if there is a prize for being the most obnoxious driver on the roadway. I’ll never win it. I just hope that I am no where near when it IS won.

Pinata? Can’t I just pretend that they are clay pigeons???

Tig, maybe some of our S. Florida drivers moved up there

In reply to I like the pinata idea, but

They warn you in Miami, not to blow your horn in traffic, they might come after you with a baseball bat or gun. :0

It has happened. (Glad I live north of there!)

Explosive air bags

In reply to If you trying to reduce the surplus population,

Instead of giving blind people explosive vests, put explosives in air bags. Not enuf to create a car bomb but just enuf to take out another car so equipped.

Then when two people fail to signal and turn into the same lane a the same time, they will take each other out!

Think of how safe and polite drivers everyone would become, not wanting to set off self destruction device!

Problem is, if there are an odd number of bad drivers, then there will be one left 🙂

And that, Dr Dij

In reply to Explosive air bags

Is why God created small concealable handguns and frangible ammunition.

We have the tools and the technology to deal with the last bed driver standing.

You won’t need the gun

In reply to And that, Dr Dij

He’ll just get drunk and take out a car full of kids.

LOL, nice one Palmetto

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

Yup the hockey cards would work and you’d look cool too! Especially with streamers flying off the side view mirrors. 🙂

As for the thought itself, I am quite embarrassed to not have considered it before. Having lived across from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind for several years, I thought my awareness of being blind was quite good. DOH!

They have an extremely important point that must be addressed, this is not an issue that should warrant discussion, beyond how to do it or what noise to use. Perhaps even a sensor at the intersection that plays a tone from the pole when the car is approaching would work?!

Hard to say, especially without weighing costs, with the volume of vehicles we are looking at it could be an issue of pennies per car making the difference.

Interesting thought, great post.

I picture the deer whistles…..

In reply to LOL, nice one Palmetto

While most say the deer whistles don’t work, something that makes noise by airflow would have a very minimal impact on price and ONLY make noise while the vehicle is in motion, where the occupants are less likely to notice over the rushing air anyways.

I suppose DRIVERS watching out who they are running over would help too?

Yappy little b******s

In reply to I picture the deer whistles…..

Face it, most people (with some obvious exceptions) driving hybrids these days are city goer/yuppie wannabes, and they all own those retarded little yappy dogs. Just put a little fly window in the car (remember those little triangle things?)and let the little b******s yap away as the car drives around. Perhaps the owners will finally figure out that the little toy dogs are best used as feed for larger dogs (kinda like feed mice for a snake, cute little things but filling too).

Yeah, got stuck ni traffic today beside some woman with a little yapper on her way to work. Little dogs at work, now that’s a rant in its own. 🙂

LONG WEEKEND IN CANADA!!! Gobble gobble gobble!

I should likely keep my mouth shut

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

But I never do.

I have crap eyesight. I must wear glasses to drive, and even then I am hyper cautious and hyper sensitive.

I drive a small, fuel efficient, coupe with adorable pink ribbons on her nose.

In the last three months, I have been run off the road three times, sideswiped two and had my bumper trod on a vast number.

My knee-jerk reaction? I’ve done my part.

My car is quiet because that is how the state that licenses my car likes it. I prefer that as well.

As visually challenged as I am, I could always hear my old drive partner- in his hybrid- from the second floor.

This is specious.

I guess my question is…….

In reply to I should likely keep my mouth shut

What vehicles did they test this with????

The more I think about this. They mention that the vehicles went around them a couple times and they didn’t hear them. I would have thought they would have heard the tires? I hear tires when my car rolls?

I don’t know.

Dan

I can hear a hybrid

In reply to I guess my question is…….

At 5:00 A.M., no gas, second floor, reasonably new townhouse.

I could hear it coming.

They make noise.

The argument is specious.

Next???

Think of it as ‘Evolution in action’

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

.

Some of us thought it

In reply to Think of it as ‘Evolution in action’

but one of us had to say it.

🙂

How close did the cars pass by them?

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

[i]”People were making comments like, ‘When are they going to start the test?’ And it would turn out that the vehicle had already done two or three laps around the parking lot,” Stein said.[/i]

Reasonably, if they can hear the cars on a one-lane street, that’s good enough. On larger thoroughfares, the blind shouldn’t be walking without a dog, is my [b]guess[/b]. I admit I’m no expert on the needs of the blind or their common workarounds, but my first reaction is that this is a ridiculous complaint. I hope one of the car companies does a random (oh, crap!) “double-blind” survey of the sightless community to determine what proportion really consider this a legitimate concern. My guess is less than 10%.

“cut curbs” for wheelchairs wreak havoc on the blind too.

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

I know this because of friends of mine who are blind.

A blind person uses the curb as a guide to where the street is.

The cut curbs that allow for better access to the wheelchair bound make it more difficult for the blind to tell where the road begins.

It seems like the problem is different that first stated

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

It is kind of like the old joke:

A man told his doctor that his wife is hard of hearing, but he cannot get her to take a hearing test to get it fixed. The doctor told the man to see how bad his wife’s hearing is and maybe he could help.

The man went home and at the front door yelled: “What’s for dinner?”, no response. He went to the living room and yelled: “What’s for dinner?, no response. He went to the kitchen door and yelled: “What’s for dinner?, no response.

Frustrated, he went just behind his wife and yelled: “What’s for dinner?”. She turns around and said, “Chicken, I have told you three times already.”

We would be less thoughtful if we did not think the Blind could have hearing problems like the rest of the population.

I agree that hybrid cars make noise, but people walk in front of me and I have no hybrid! (They did not have the excuse of being blind, either.)

Only quick solution I see is to have a high frequency sound (beyond human hearing) that a Seeing Eye dog could hear, and, possibly a cane could detect and vibrate from the direction the sound is coming. Do not know much about deer whistles. Seems ideal for 3rd party Auto sales. [Hello JC Whitney]

But all dogs would hear that, not just those assisting blind people.

In reply to It seems like the problem is different that first stated

I can hear it now: constant barking and howling of dogs following all hybrid cars through every neighborhood. Almost brilliant!

How about a single radio frequency signal assigned to a type of device for blind people, which they can set to either beep or vibrate, depending on their preference? Yes, it could be built into cell phones, but should also be available as a standalone device. Maybe the rate of the beeping could be used to indicate proximity, and tone could indicate direction, although the latter might be a bit ambitious.

No that was not what I meant

In reply to But all dogs would hear that, not just those assisting blind people.

The volume would be to low to hear very far away and only active at very slow speed.

But, all dogs barking would at least alert someone to cars approaching. 😀

Actually, I like yours better (mine was just a first thought), especially if seeing eye dogs could be trained to it.

Maybe what the article was aiming at was to get the car manufacturers to get radar in the car to tell if a pedestrian was at the crosswalk and automatically stop for them. Never mind what that would do to slow up traffic. :^0

Of the 7 blind people I know

In reply to No that was not what I meant

only one had a dog…

many don’t use dogs.

That’s odd, I can hear them.

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

and I’m not blind.
I can hear the electric motors wining, as well as the tread noise of the tires.

statistics…

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

When there are statistics to support the idea that hybrid cars are disproportionately running over pedestrians, and when the percentage of those pedestrians are disproportionately blind people… Then we may have an issue.

But I don’t see this happening…

But that’s the whole problem.

In reply to statistics…

“But I don’t [b]see[/b] this happening…”

:^0

I apologize, that was stupid.

That was BAD!!!

In reply to But that’s the whole problem.

But I smiled any way. 🙂

Maybe it was, but not as bad as a dog whistle on every hybrid car.

In reply to That was BAD!!!

Every dog in the neighborhood yapping, every time a hybrid car passes? If it ever happens, you’ll be surprised how many hybrids there are, and you’ll wish you hadn’t used dogs as your detector, I promise you!

So…?

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

Their risk is no greater than that of the idiots in traffic wearing iPods or headphones or talking on cell phones, or reading the book while on the freeway, or applying makeup or shaving or any number of distractions that drivers participate in on a daily basis.

What other activity allows you to pilot a multi-ton killing machine at high speeds while engaging in your favorite activities? It’s becoming like Death Race 2000 and no one seems a bit concerned.

But then, when killing a bicyclist, pedestrian or another motorist results in little or no punishment, what point is there in paying attention anyway?

Life is cheap! Rack up them points!

I don’t think a handicapped person came up with this.

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

It’s more likely someone who thinks blind people can’t hear. I see them all the time… We had a blind man running the snack shop and you wouldn’t believe how many people would come in and enunciate loudly when they talked to him 🙂

I would…

In reply to I don’t think a handicapped person came up with this.

You should see people trying to communicate with someone hearing impaired like me.

they either give huuuuuge sweeeping gestures to emphesise their points, or:

THEY…TALK….LIKE…THIS…TO…MAKE…SURE…THAT..I…DON’T…MISS…A…WORD

Must have been a slow news day.

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

It looks like there is going to a battle over this one. The pro “not getting run over and sustaining a serious head injury” aka the Sight-Impaired vs. the Anti-Blind noise reduction advocates. Or will it be the “A claxon on every wheeled vehicle” for the Noise-loving visually-challenged vs. the “Save the Ears” anti-noise group. Pick your bias now and get on one side or the other.

I’m going to sit back and let these groups fight it out. Its only fair that special interest groups representing less than 1% of the population determine how I should cater to their needs, that is democracy after all.

In the meantime I will continue to honk lightly at jaywalkers who step into traffic like it was invisible. I’ll also use the horn to announce my approach to people who stroll three abreast up, down and across the driving lanes between rows of parked cars following some sort of bizarre migratory patterns while chatting on their cell phones too. Apparently my gas-burning, possibly back in fashion this week car is now not loud enough. I never should have repaired that muffler.

There are plenty of other “quiet” cars on the road. Most Mercedes and some BMWs are virtually silent at idle. Ever stood beside a Rolls-Royce or Bentley – can’t tell they are running either.

Are you a COMPLETE loser??

In reply to Must have been a slow news day.

Or just completely insensitive and inconsiderate of others? In order to have a say in YOUR world it needs to be a mojority vote? You ONLY see majority votes as a diplomatic or democratic solution? Why should anyone be allowed a voice unless it is a majority voice?

You need to head back to school and get a real fancy book edjukashun. Are you really from To or are you a transplanted American? The reason I ask is that you show a typically ignorant, self centered, right wing attitude toward others.

This isn’t about a political election, this is your neighbours livlihood, don’t be so inconsiderate, immature and ‘blind’ to reality of others around you.

[i]Its only fair that special interest groups representing less than 1% of the population determine how I should cater to their needs, that is democracy after all. [/i]

Actually it’s just sarcasm isn’t it? Why should society cater to the blind, or deaf, or parapalegic or quadrapalegic, or mentally challenged or black skinned or those with religions different to the majority?

Because the rest of the world actually gives a toss about its society, unlike many narrow minded and completely deluded people who think THIER world only fits THIER personal ideals.

You have come across as such a narrow minded tool it isn’t even slightly humorous.

As for silent cars, think again. These cars when moving down a roadway at 55kph can be heard very well by someone with an accutely traned ear, as a blind person would have.

Your comments are that of a very small, spoiled rotten, narrow minded child. Very small, very spolied, very narrow minded even for a child.

If you had learned ANY reading comprhension skills when you went to school, you would easily see that this has NOTHING to do with loud cars, so excess noise is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with gas burners vs electric cars, so that issue about your banger is irrelevant too.

Next time try to figure out what you are on about before spouting off like such a complete knob.

You have completely missed the gist of my post…

In reply to Are you a COMPLETE loser??

I was making a tongue-in-cheek statement about how these relatively minor issues get blown out of proportion and polarized by the media into an “us against them” battle ground, complete with inflammatory headlines to fan the flames.

Before you fire another salvo at me you have to put this into perspective, the potential threat of injury to blind pedestrians due to quieter running cars is a minor issue. Major issues like increasing domestic poverty and short-sighted government fiscal policies, issues that effect everyone, don’t get a lot of coverage.

Your understanding of the democratic process could use an update. Legislation is normally passed by majority vote, but what influences that vote are lobby and special interest groups. Most politicians cater to “SIGs” because they are a vocal minority that represents a large voting group and/or has the ability to sway enough of the general voting population.

As a case in point I have organized petitions and made deliberations our school board trustees to prevent closure and funding cuts of a local public school, alongside the parents of an autistic child and parents of a blind child, so that my special needs child would get the extra in-classroom assistance he needs to remain in the school system. We did manage to sway the opinions of the trustees enough to force a delay and more detailed review of the budget cuts.

Clearly my sarcastic humour was completely lost on you. On the other hand you wrote “You have come across as such a narrow minded tool it isn’t even slightly humorous.” So you did understand I was making a joke, but preferred instead to launch a petty, personal attack against me.

“Next time try to figure out what you are on about before spouting off like such a complete knob.” I’ll tack on a smiley face next time so you can follow what I’m talking about.

Heh

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

What the hell are blind people doing driving cars? 🙂

The gas engine of a hybrid comes on at about 15 mph

In reply to Blind people say hybrid cars pose safety risk

It is only silent when going slow. The blind have been able to avoid bicyclists for years with no complaints. I agree with the poster who claims the complaint is specious.

On the other hand, I have gotten sordid pleasure with my hybrid by sneaking up behind pedestrians walking three abreast in a parking lot and then laying on the horn and watching them jump out of their skin when they see a car four feet behind them.

[Author]

Replies