In recent years, U.S. automakers have been struggling with declining car sales, which have accompanied the economic recession. Sales of hybrids, but remained strong. Edmunds.com recently reported that hybrid sales experienced their third best year in 2009 since national records were first made in 1999. From 2008 to 2009 there was only a 6.8 percent decline in the purchase of hybrids, compared with a decline of 21.4 percent for non-hybrid cars.
Edmunds cites the introduction of new models, federal tax credits and incentives end and low fuel consumption as factors that contributed to the steady sales of these vehicles. With so many incentives hybrids have become the vehicle of choice for many consumers, but blind pedestrians have concerns about how quiet hybrids are when traveling at low speeds, such as their battery-powered motors are difficult to hear words.
In response to concerns among the blind community about the safety risks for hybrid cars, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA investigated the frequency of pedestrian and cyclist accidents involving hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) in comparison to similar accidents involving combustion engine ( ICE) vehicles. The source of the accident for the investigation of the police accident reports (PARS), which are stored on the State Data Systems, is derived. Select vehicles based on specific criteria, NHTSA focused on a total of 8,387 HEVs and ICE vehicles 559703. The agency investigated 77 accidents involving pedestrians and 48 bicycle accidents HEVs and 3,578 accidents involving pedestrians and bicycle accidents with 1,862 ICE vehicles.
Most accidents that either the type of vehicle occurred during the day, in clear weather, and on the streets in low-speed zones are, according to NHTSA, however, found the agency that the incidence rate was higher than for ICE HEV vehicles. In certain situations, the HEV was two times more likely to be involved in a pedestrian accident than ICE vehicles: when the vehicle slow down or stop the movement in reverse or entering or leaving a parking space. "Pedestrian accidents also occurred at a higher rate for HEVs in situations where the vehicle turned," said Jim Ballidis, a California personal injury lawyer.
Last April, NHTSA conducted a study called "Quiet cars and pedestrian safety Blind: Phase I," in which the agency examines the reaction of blind subjects to the sound of HEVs compared to ICE vehicles at different speeds and execution made various maneuvers. Overall, the sound of HEVs proved to be lower than ICE vehicles. Some subjects were able to HEVs ever heard: two could not hear a Toyota Prius closer at 6 mph, could not recognize one or more of the five HEVs backwards, and eight could not detect slow vehicles.
Consumers expect hybrid and electric vehicles at much louder in the future. In January 2011, President Obama signed the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010, which require NHTSA to establish performance requirements for automobile manufacturers to ensure that blind pedestrians can hear these vehicles. Representatives of the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind reacted with permission.
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