Not serious, only joking here. This could possibly be a way of controlling
the blind World and also assist the government with less blind pensions to
pay. Seriously, I'll wait till you stopped exercising by jumping up and
down..................... On a serious note, yes it would be extremely
dangerous for the future blind World and the blind voices should be heard
now before it is too late and the World is already provided with millions of
silent cars. Good that the level of noice in public will be reduced but one
thing we need to make sure that it does come across blind but still human
surely much more important than the level of public noice. If we don't
succeed in getting that across now, the blind World of the future will be
regarded and respected less.
Greg
The Blind community believe that electric cars will be a problem for them,
but deafblind people who are actively mobile today already have a problem
with with cars. Di Jeff Overmars The Globe and Mail Focus, March 4, 2006,
Jeff Overmars is a freelance writer in Toronto.
The compressed-air auto that Tim Flannery describes is still in the works,
but the gas-electric hybrid car has already rolled out of the pages of
science fiction. Its arrival brings the hope that the ozone layer will
survive and we all might breathe a little easier (without actually having to
drive less). But if you think that this healthy alternative vehicle can do
no wrong, well, you would be wrong.
The cute, go-green hybrid car has almost no discernible engine or exhaust
noise when operating in electric mode.
While this might be a selling point for some concerned citizens, the silence
can pose big problems for others. The blind community, for example, feels
that the audibly "invisible" car is a threat to their safety.
Last year, the Alliance for the Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC) adopted
"Resolution 2005-25: Hybrid Cars" calling for research into the problems
posed by the increasing presence of hybrid and electric cars on roads and
city streets.
The AEBC is concerned because they have been hearing stories from their
members -- blind or visually impaired Canadians -- of cars sneaking up or
surprising them at crosswalks. These stories have been popping up all over
North America with documented incidents in San Francisco, Little Rock, Ark.,
and elsewhere.
Audible traffic signals -- the ones that beep or chirp -- indicate when it
is safe to cross in a particular direction from a crosswalk. Their purpose
is to replace the visual cue of the white, walking GO man or glowing red
STOP hand.
But what is going to replace the sound of a one-ton vehicle idling or
approaching from one way or the other when a blind person steps out to cross
a street? In fact, traffic noise is one of the main ways the blind can
ensure that they are lined up straight to safely cross a street.
Kim Kilpatrick, the executive assistant at the AEBC, has sent several
letters to car manufacturers and insurance providers hoping that something
might be done to compensate for the silence. While she has yet to receive
any official response, Ms. Kilpatrick says Ford responded in a follow-up
telephone call she made, telling her that the matter had been passed along
to their engineering department.
But since blind people don't drive cars, she wonders how much time and money
a company such as Ford will be willing to invest in solving this problem.
Perhaps we should reach back into science fiction-land again -- specifically
to H.G. Wells's The Country of the Blind, where the population of a village
is composed of blind people. Here, a sighted visitor finds their perspective
no longer offers the safety and security it once had. That sort of thinking
might provide a solution to the hybrid problem and others like it that are
sure to arise out of further innovation.
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