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Dangerous Problems with Hybrids

07.06.08: News story by KFOR in Oklahoma City. To open the video in Windows Media Player, click here.

Transcript of news report:

News Reporter Linda Cavanaugh (LC): Now whether you want to save money on gas, or do your part for the environment, a hybrid car may be just the answer. Hybrid vehicle sales have increased 50 percent just from last year.

News Reporter Kevin Ogle (KO): Well one group says they’ve also created a new problem that threatens public safety. In fact, earlier this year a Minnesota woman claimed her 8 year old son was hit by a hybrid that he never heard coming.

LC: News Channel 4's Ed Doney has more in this consumers alert.

Jay Wilson (JW): The city mileage is higher than the highway mileage.

Reporter Ed Doney (ED): Jay Wilson of Fowler Toyota says there’s a waiting list for the new Prius and shows us how this hybrid gets 50 to 60 miles per gallon. At low speeds the car uses only battery power, not gas.

ED: So we’re not using any gasoline right now.

JW: No gasoline at all right now.

ED: But not everyone believes hybrids are the perfect solution to high gas prices. Steve Shelton is with the National Federation of the Blind, an organization that says hybrids are too quiet at low speeds and pose a threat to blind pedestrians.

Steve Shelton (SS): If we can’t hear them, and we think the traffic is stopped and they are coming by, you know, we’re liable to get hit.

ED: In his world, there are no green lights, only audible clues (sounds of a train and whistle and an emergency vehicle siren) on when to cross. What a challenge it must be to rely solely on your hearing to get around in situations like this. So just how quiet are these hybrids? We put one to a hearing test. First, Steve tells us how far away he can hear our news vehicle approaching.

SS: I heard it when it just came around the corner.

ED: He heard our engine from the stop sign half a block away (sound of a vehicle passing by). But when a hybrid came rolling by –

SS: I hear it.

ED: Steve didn’t hear it until it was almost in front of him.

SS: I was a little surprised.

ED: The hybrid’s driver, Evalena Morales, (you can hear her talking) was also surprised at how quiet her car could be.

Evalena Morales (EM): It didn’t cross my mind. We just have to be very responsible drivers.

ED: But not all drivers are responsible. That’s why the “Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008” was introduced at the U.S. Capitol to provide blind and other pedestrians with a non-visual alert. If passed, the law would require hybrids to send out a signal at low speeds warning the blind and everyone who can look both ways before crossing the street, but doesn’t.

SS: They’re going to have a problem just as a blind person would and it may be tragic.

KO: That was Ed Doney reporting. A Toyota spokesman tells us they’re looking into the issue closely while working with members of Congress on a solution. Something you don’t think about with a new car.