House follows Senate; passes noise bill for EVs, hybrids

[SHRED]

Last week, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to approve a measure that would require hybrids and plug-in vehicles to emit a sound to warn nearby pedestrians. After approving the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010, a measure backed by Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Senate handed it over to the House of Representatives. The House responded with a vote of their own: 379 members approved of the act and only 30 voted to shoot it down.

The bill requires that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sets a standard for an alert sound that will allow pedestrians to "reasonably detect a nearby electric or hybrid vehicle" while operating at low speeds. Drivers won't be required to manually activate the sound, as the measure states that the system must be automatically controlled by the vehicle. The act gained traction after two major auto trade groups – the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers – and advocacy groups for the blind expressed support for the law's passage.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/12/17/house-senate-passes-noise-bill-electric-cars-hybrids/

Personally I was looking forward to a quieter world with EV's.

Oh well.

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[rucky]

1. That just took all the fun out of driving in parking lots with my Prius.

:(

[kickysnana]

2. Guessing the playing card on a bicycle or perhaps twilight zone music from Rethugs. n/t

[kickysnana]

3. Reminds me of the laws that made drivers get out at intersections...

look both ways and toot their horn before entering an intercection ca 1903. Duh!

[SHRED]

4. We can't even get our signal lights timed better

In SoCal where I live the pedestrian walk light and the auto green light go on at the exact same time.
It is much safer if the pedestrian light goes on 3 seconds sooner so that the driver making the right hand turn has a good visual instead of having to look out of the corner of their eyes.
How many times have you seen a driver turning right just as a pedestrian steps off the curb?


They can't even get the light timing correct and now they want to add more noise.
Fools.

[MindPilot]

8. +10000

Agreed...far be it from any municipality to improve traffic flow or update that 100-year-old signal technology.

[azul]

5. Activated when white canes visible

makes more sense. They also have horns.

I am more concerned about animals hit at high speeds.

[SHRED]

7. my understanding of noise with autos...

...is that tire-to-road-surface noise is the main sound emitted at higher speeds.

[Stevenmarc]

6. Oh just let Darwinism run its course