| Title | Quieter Cars and the Safety of Blind Pedestrians: Phase 1. |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 42886 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Garay-Vega, Lisandra; Hastings, Aaron; Pollard, John K.; Zuschlag, Michael; Stearns, Mary (Mary D.) |
| Source | 151p. in various pagings |
| Corporate Creator | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Publisher | United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration |
| Publication Date | 20100401 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recognizes that quieter cars such as hybrid-electric vehicles in low-speed operation using their electric motors, may introduce a safety issue for pedestrians who are blind. This study documents the overall sound levels and general spectral content for a selection of hybrid-electric and internal combustion vehicles in different operating conditions, evaluates vehicle detectability for two ambient sound levels, and considers countermeasure concepts that are categorized as vehicle-based, infrastructure-based, and systems requiring vehicle-pedestrian communications. Overall sound levels for the hybrid-electric vehicles tested are lower at low speeds than for the internal combustion engine vehicles tested. There were significant differences in human subjects' response time depending on whether electric or internalcombustion propulsion was used at both the lower and higher levels of ambient sound. Candidate countermeasures are discussed in terms of types of information provided (direction, vehicle speed, and rate of speed change, etc); useful range of detection of vehicles by pedestrians, warning time, user acceptability, and barriers to implementation. This study provides baseline data on the acoustic characteristics and auditory detectability of vehicles; however, the results cannot be generalized to more complex environments, as for example when multiple target vehicles are present. |
| Rosap ID | dot:9474 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/9474 |
| TRT Terms | Blind persons; Countermeasures; Acoustic properties; Hybrid vehicles; Plug-in hybrid vehicles; Sound level; Auditory perception; Electric vehicles; Traffic safety; Human factors |
| General Subjects | Blind; Hybrid electric vehicles; Sound analyzers; Auditory perception; Electric vehicles; Traffic safety |
| Classification | NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Highway Safety; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Transit Safety and Security; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Vehicle Design; NTL - SAFETY AND SECURITY - Human Factors |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| OCLC | 727857869 |
| TRIS Online Accession No |
1156673 |
| Contract Number | HS59A1/HS76 |
| Report Number | DOT HS 811 304; DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-11-03 |
| Availability | Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/42000/42800/42886/DOT_HS_811304.pdf |
| Alternative URL | http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crash%20Avoidance/Technical%20Publications/2010/811304rev.pdf; https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/42000/42800/42886/DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-11-03.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |