Blind Advocates Say Hybrids Pose Safety Threat!
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Okemos, MI
The EV1 (which was totally silent when sitting still) had a secondary horn called a pedestrian horn, made specifically to alert nearby pedestrians of its presence. It was a lot quieter than the regular horn (so that you didn't scare the daylights out of them).
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From: Oakland, California
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Okemos, MI
An electric car poses a much larger threat -- it could be traveling much faster, it can't stop or swerve as quickly, and carries a lot more momentum than a bicycle.
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Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Oakland, California
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,705
From: Oakland, California
There is a solution to all this...
Take all the unwanted shelter dogs and train them to become seeing eye dogs for the blind. There are far more dogs destroyed every year than there are blind people in America. This will solve several problems:
(a) it will put unwanted dogs in homes rather than euthanize them;
(b) it will give blind people "eyes" to help then navigate around and avoid dangerous electric vehicles and bicycles;
(c) it will help the environment by
. (1) cutting down on burning fossil fuels,
. (2) reducing the land fill created by dog carcasses,
. (3) reducing noise pollution created by loud gas burning engines;
(c) it will create jobs by requiring more dog trainers to raise and train the dogs;
(d) it will create jobs for farmers who will be needed to grow grain and raise livestock to feed the dogs;
(e) it will create jobs for social workers to evaluate, assist and connect blind people with seeing eye dogs; etc.
About the only people than would lose out are the lawyers.
Take all the unwanted shelter dogs and train them to become seeing eye dogs for the blind. There are far more dogs destroyed every year than there are blind people in America. This will solve several problems:
(a) it will put unwanted dogs in homes rather than euthanize them;
(b) it will give blind people "eyes" to help then navigate around and avoid dangerous electric vehicles and bicycles;
(c) it will help the environment by
. (1) cutting down on burning fossil fuels,
. (2) reducing the land fill created by dog carcasses,
. (3) reducing noise pollution created by loud gas burning engines;
(c) it will create jobs by requiring more dog trainers to raise and train the dogs;
(d) it will create jobs for farmers who will be needed to grow grain and raise livestock to feed the dogs;
(e) it will create jobs for social workers to evaluate, assist and connect blind people with seeing eye dogs; etc.
About the only people than would lose out are the lawyers.
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From: TX Med Ctr
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From: Toronto, ON Canada
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 2,402
From: Toronto, ON Canada
Sev MacPete, founder of the Toyota Prius Club of San Diego, dismisses the idea that hybrids pose a safety threat. He says blind pedestrians are easy to spot because they usually have a special white cane with red tip. "And if you could say anything about hybrid drivers, they are more aware of their surroundings than other drivers," Mr. MacPete says.
Isn't he pleased with himself. He has undeniable evidence to back up such a claim, I'm sure.
Isn't he pleased with himself. He has undeniable evidence to back up such a claim, I'm sure.
Anybody who lives in dense urban centres will attest that the drivers are distracted by a million things (cell phones, billboards) that they can't even notice the car in front of them, much less likely a pedestrian, and even less likely to identify that pedestrian as blind.
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From: Toronto, ON Canada
Any vehicle provides a bubble of protection for its occupants, and drivers inside electric vehicles feel safer than cyclists. I'm sure they are not paying as much attention as a cyclist, who understands that a wrong move can cost him/her very dearly.
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From: Oakland, California
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From: Newhall, CA USA
Kinda like Thunderdome. Except nobody leaves.