Resolution 2008-04
Regarding Hybrid and other Quiet Vehicles

WHEREAS, the increasing prevalence of low-emission hybrid and silent vehicles in Maryland compromises the ability of blind residents of the state to travel safely and independently since these technologies do not make the conventional motor sounds of automobiles, which provide blind travelers with valuable clues about the presence and proximity of traffic and help blind pedestrians to know when it is appropriate to cross intersections; and

WHEREAS, the anecdotal concerns of the blind community about the detrimental effects of quiet vehicles on our ability to travel safely and independently have now been verified through scientific research, affirming that pedestrians cannot hear hybrid vehicles and that they, therefore, pose a danger not only to the blind but also to others who regularly walk as part of their daily routine; and

WHEREAS, the incorporation of appropriate motor sounds in green-friendly automobiles will have no negative impact on the laudable environmental objectives achieved through the introduction of these low-emissions hybrid and silent vehicles into the marketplace ; and

WHEREAS, both Congress and administrative agencies of the federal government have acknowledged that the dangers posed by hybrid and silent vehicles to blind people is a legitimate and current concern of national importance and priority; and

WHEREAS, efforts to address this critical issue for blind pedestrians proved unsuccessful when the Maryland Department of the Environment failed to honor the directive of the Maryland Clean Cars Act of 2007 by considering the effects of its implementing regulations on blind people, and no regulations regarding how hybrid and other silent vehicles could be made safe for blind people were issued; and

WHEREAS, in an effort to address this deficiency, the Maryland General Assembly adopted further legislation in 2008 creating the Maryland Quiet Vehicles and Pedestrian Safety Taskforce to study this problem and recommend solutions; and

WHEREAS, state and local governments who choose--despite these clearly expressed concerns--to purchase or otherwise acquire hybrid or other silent vehicles have a responsibility to mitigate these identified problems and protect blind people and other pedestrians who will be disadvantaged, if not jeopardized, by the absence of useful sound from such types of transportation: Now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in convention assembled this sixteenth day of November, 2008, in the City of Ocean City, Maryland, that this organization urge the Maryland Quiet Vehicles and Pedestrian Safety Taskforce to adopt the following recommendations of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland:

  1. That the state of Maryland should immediately pursue legislation and regulations requiring all vehicles purchased or deployed by the state and its political subdivisions to meet a minimum sound standard;
  2. That the legislation or regulations should require the procurement and installation of after-market devices for vehicles owned or deployed by the state of Maryland that do not meet the minimum sound standard, whether or not those vehicles contain hybrid, electric, or other low-emission technology;
  3. That the sole criterion for cars to be fitted with sound-emission technology should be whether the vehicle meets the minimum sound standards, regardless of how the vehicle is powered;
  4. That the minimum sound standard should be determined by appropriate research and scientific study;
  5. That this and all related studies should include the participation of human subjects, including members of this state's blind population;
  6. That the studies should include a review of all available literature and research, testing of the available after-market solutions that cause otherwise silent vehicles to emit sound, and the commissioning of new research and testing as needed;
  7. That the study should be completed and regulations implemented by the time the provisions of the Maryland Clean Cars Act of 2007 take effect in 2011; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge the Maryland Governor and General Assembly to enact legislation and regulations implementing the final recommendations of the Maryland Quiet Vehicles and Pedestrian Safety Taskforce so long as its proposals are sound and consistent with the principles outlined above.

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