Electric and hybrid cars are the most interesting answer
to the demands on reducing harmful emissions and to limit fuel
consumption. But these present an unexpected and rather serious problem:
producing little sound, than can represent danger for pedestrians and
bicycle riders. Cars with electrical and hybrid traction are increasingly
popular and are perceived as the most efficient answer these days to the
growing demands on reducing drastically harmful gas emissions and to
noticeably diminish increasingly more expensive fuel consumption. The auto
industry is investing a lot of money in this area in the hope of hindering
the worrying gap in sales. Undoubtedly, travelling on board an electrical
or hybrid car is an interesting experience and the rising interest in
these green cars all over the world is not surprising. It is possible to
imagine in a not too distant future that the streets of our cities will be
crowded predominantly by these silent vehicles going lightly and
pleasantly in all directions.
We will all appreciate the significant
decrease in smog and the inconvenient noise traditional cars make, but
someone will have to realize that something is wrong and that for some
this new reality can represent unexpected situations of danger. Just as no
one had expected that the institution of bicycle paths, which are quite
appropriate per se, could turn out to be a risk factor for some
pedestrians, so much so that only recently studies are being initiated to
research the serious effects of this new type of vehicle.
It is not
the point to doubt that hybrid cars are probably a true alternative to
traditional cars and that their numbers will keep growing. It is therefore
necessary to take seriously the warning by organizations of and for blind
and visually impaired persons, which are beginning to document on the
difficulties that these people will have when there will be so many hybrid
cars circulating in our cities.
Up until now, electrical vehicles were
quite few and they were predominantly used for work activities. These
never meant a real danger for pedestrians and cyclists while with the
cars things have changed. Electric cars, in truth still very few, use an
electric engine that allows us to ride for short distances at low speed.
The hybrid cars are instead much more performing; they are equipped with
an internal combustion engine (gasoline or diesel fuel) and an electric
engine running when the car travels at reduced speed, this
means quite often in cities. The electric motor is very silent and
can be heard at only a short distance. This can jeopardize the security of
many people,
most of all people living with vision loss and/or hearing
loss, children, seniors, maybe only distracted people and also cyclists.
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in the US, a leading-edge
organization promoting the independence of people living with
vision loss, has launched an awareness campaign to attract attention on
the problem as soon as took place the first accidents and were published
the results of the first studies led with scientific methods done, for
example, by the University of California. It was discovered that an
electric vehicle was heard by the volunteers participating in the test at
a distance of only a little more than three meters, 60% less than with a
car with a piston engine. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration has done a study with 8,387 hybrid cars and 559,703 cars
with internal-combustion engine corresponding to selection criteria. A
number of 77 accidents were reported involving pedestrians and hybrid cars
and 3,578 accidents were reported involving pedestrians and traditional
cars; 48 accidents involving bicycle riders and hybrid cars were reported
and 1,862 accidents involving riders and traditional cars were reported.
The assessed accidents with hybrid cars gave proportions higher than those
with traditional cars: for pedestrians an accident every 108 hybrid cars
against one for every 156 traditional cars; for cyclists an accident every
175 hybrid cars against one for every 301 traditional cars. This
demonstrates that the NFB's preoccupations are not without basis. The
European Blind Union has opportunely dealt with the matter. Electric cars
undoubtedly represent a technological evolution of fundamental importance,
it is also necessary however to take into account that these will create a
remarkable change in the reality of urban traffic. The European Blind
Union's working group dealing with mobility has reported that blind and
visually impaired persons have experienced quite a few difficulties
following the new set up of our city which represents a risk of
eventually limit the independence of numerous street walkers. We only need
to think about the complete absence of European standards concerning the
acoustic signals at street lights and to the increasing number of the
so-called French turn-abouts that often make it impossible for those on
foot or on a bike to cross the intersection. In historical centres, we are
witnessing more and more of a new type of road networks that plans on the
elimination of pavements and the circulation of mixed types of vehicles
along the same routes, the so-called shared surfaces. To move about in the
city has then become more of a challenge for those who need clear rules,
precise points of reference and well-defined itineraries like those
who live with visual loss but also seniors, children and cyclists.
The chaotic situation demonstrates how
in planning a common living environment, the needs of everyone are not at
all taken into consideration only those of a portion of users.
The principle of universal design is elegantly ignored by technical people
as well as administrators who do not have a culture of accessibility and
are led by the hand by partial solutions that are often discriminatory.
It is not a mystery that technological evolution is almost never
guided primarily by the pursuit of the common well-being but by the
strongest logic of profit. The consequence is that there is always another
side to things that tends to be neglected. Getting back to the electric
and hybrid cars, it is clear that solutions will need to be adequately
looked into concerning the problem of security which was certainly
underestimated. If traditional cars are dangerous mostly when they go at
high speed, electric ones are so when they go at reduced speed, when they
park or when they are closed to pedestrian crossings. The European Blind
Union has played a leading-edge role in reporting this potential risk
factor for many citizens who need to be heard. What then should be
done?
The crucial points to take into account are the following:
1.
Electric and hybrid cars are useful because they cause less atmospheric
and acoustic pollution, but they can be a danger because they are less
noisy;
2. This risk factor concerns a vast number of street users:
blind and visually impaired persons with hearing problems, persons with
other disabilities, children, seniors, sportspeople, bicycle riders and
also simply distracted pedestrians;
3. Research reveal clearly that the
right to independent and safe mobility for everyone, but particularly
those with a sensory impairment, are seriously threatened if appropriate
measures are not taken to ensure their safety;
4. This is possible
through the installation on electric and hybrid cars of specifically
designed signals so that it is possible to hear vehicles coming;
5.
Studies and experimentations are now taking place to resolve the problem
and solutions need to be made available rapidly;
6. These studies have
to first concern security and then be extended to the global accessibility
of the urban road network.
From what is written above, it seems obvious
that dealing with the problems of persons with disabilities means in
reality dealing with a large number of people as the measures taken to
improve the life of those who live with a disability "always" means
improving everyone's life.
