[ivie] federal research on Quiet Cars announced

[Ardis Bazyn]

"The government today made it official – those quiet electric and
hybrid cars should sound more like – well – more like their
conventional gas-powered cousins.
. . .
Researchers concluded the best solution was to ensure that electric and
hybrid vehicles emit the same sound as vehicles with an internal
combustion engine. They determined the sound should change as the car
speeds up and slows down – to give pedestrians and other motorists even
better audio clues about how the vehicle is moving. How to get that
manufactured sound? Researchers suggested actual recordings of
conventional cars, or a digitally
 reproduced alternative. As for how
loud those added sounds should be? The suggested decibel level has yet
to be determined.
. . ."
This means hybrid electrics and electric cars will be just as deadly as 
today's vehicles,
no more nor less. As for implementation, the article goes on to state:
". . .
By law, the government must start its final rule-making by next summer,
with a final rule in place by January 2014. Makers of electric and
hybrid vehicles will have three years to phase in the noise
requirements. By September of 2017, all new hybrid and electric cars
will have to turn up the decibels."
The NHTSA final report on the nature of sound is here:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crash%20Avoidance/Technical%20Publications/2011/811496.pdf
Quieter Cars and the Safety of Blind
 Pedestrians, Phase 2: Development of Potentical Specifications for Vehcile 
Countermeasure
Sounds" - DOT HS 811 496

Ardis Bazyn
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