HB2538

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles provide less air pollution and greater fuel efficiency. It is expected that more advanced alternative fuel vehicles, including hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, will be widely available in coming years. The total number of hybrid vehicles sold per year in the State is growing dramatically, and although the present number of hybrid vehicles currently constitutes a small percentage of vehicles, the number of hybrid vehicles may soon equal or exceed the number of traditional vehicles in the State.

The legislature notes, however, that a significant difference between these vehicles and traditional internal combustion fuel vehicles is that the new technology makes virtually no sound at all. Because blind pedestrians cannot locate and evaluate traffic using their vision, they must listen to traffic to discern its speed, direction, and other attributes in order to travel safely and independently. Other persons, including pedestrians who are not blind, bicyclists, runners, and small children, benefit from multi-sensory information emitted by vehicle traffic, including the sound of vehicle engines.

The legislature finds that hybrid vehicles, when operating on their electric engines, cannot be heard by blind persons and others, making these vehicles extremely dangerous to persons crossing streets, moving through parking lots, or in other situations where pedestrians and vehicles come into close proximity. The legislature further finds that action should be taken to ensure that blind pedestrians can hear hybrid and other silent vehicles in all phases of their operation. Vehicle designs that take into account the multi-sensory nature of traffic detection by emitting a minimum level of sound will alert all pedestrians, especially blind pedestrians, and help them avoid injury.

The purpose of this Act is to establish a minimum sound level standard for motor vehicles so that hybrid and electric vehicles are easier for visually impaired pedestrians and others to detect and thereby avoid accidents and fatalities.

SECTION 2. (a) No later than January 1, 2010, the department of transportation shall adopt rules, pursuant to chapter 91, that establish a minimum sound standard applicable to all motor vehicles, including hybrid vehicles, registered in the State.

(b) Rules adopted under this section, at a minimum, shall:

(1) Require all motor vehicles registered in the State to emit at all times when operational an omni-directional sound with similar spectral characteristics to those of a modern internal combustion engine;

(2) Require the sound emitted by motor vehicles to be consistent with the sound of motor vehicles with internal combustion engines in that it indicates whether the motor vehicle is idling, maintaining a constant speed, accelerating, or decelerating; and

(3) Require motor vehicle safety inspections to include verification of the existence of a properly functioning sound emitter.

Rules adopted pursuant this section need not prescribe the apparatus, technology, or method to be used by vehicle manufacturers or vehicle owners to achieve the minimum sound level required by this Act.

(1) Review all pertinent research regarding the effect of traffic sounds on pedestrian safety; and

(2) Consult consumer groups representing the visually impaired, pedestrians, cyclists, and advocates for the safety of children.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2538
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII