HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	137
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the department of transportation to study the minimum sound level necessary to ensure that blind pedestrians can hear hybrid and other "silent" vehicles in all phases of their operation.

     WHEREAS, vehicles designed to reduce harmful pollutants and to operate with greater fuel efficiency include gasoline-electric hybrid and electric-only vehicles; and

     WHEREAS, in the foreseeable future, vehicle engine technologies may include hydrogen fuel cell and other technology that provides an alternative to those that rely partly or wholly on internal combustion; and

WHEREAS, vehicle engines employing technologies other than internal combustion generate virtually no sound while in operation; and

     WHEREAS, the total number of hybrid and electric-only vehicles sold per year in Hawaii is growing and may equal or exceed the number of internal combustion engine vehicles in Hawaii in the future; and

     WHEREAS, people, including pedestrians, who are not blind, such as bicyclists, runners, and children, benefit from the multi-sensory information generated by vehicular traffic, including the sound of vehicle engines; and

     WHEREAS, blind pedestrians use the sound of vehicular traffic to discern the speed, direction, and other attributes of vehicles in order to transverse roads safely and independently; and

     WHEREAS, hybrid vehicles, when operating on their electric engines, and electric-only vehicles are difficult for blind people to identify and track, rendering these vehicles potentially dangerous when moving on the street, emerging from driveways, moving through parking lots, and in other situations where blind pedestrians and vehicles come into proximity with each other; and

     WHEREAS, vehicular design standards that consider the multi-sensory nature of traffic detection and avoidance and require vehicles to emit a minimum level of sound to alert pedestrians and prevent accidents are necessary for the protection of the public; and

     WHEREAS, the failure to take action to ensure that blind pedestrians can hear hybrid and other "silent" vehicles in all phases of their operation will lead to pedestrian injuries and fatalities; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Transportation is requested to study the minimum sound level necessary to ensure that blind pedestrians can hear hybrid and other silent vehicles in all phases of their operation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to recommend minimum sound standards applicable to vehicles sold, in and licensed to travel on the public roads of, Hawaii that include:

(1)  An omni-directional sound with spectral characteristics similar to those of a modern internal combustion engine vehicle in all phases of operation, including times when the vehicle is at a full-stop;

(2)  A sound that varies in a way consistent with the sound of vehicles with combustion engines indicating that the vehicle is idling, maintaining a constant speed, accelerating, or decelerating; and

(3)  Standards that do not prescribe the apparatus, technology, or method to be used by vehicle manufacturers to achieve the required minimum sound level; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to review all available research regarding the effect of traffic sounds on pedestrian safety and consult consumer groups representing individuals who are blind, other pedestrians, cyclists, and advocates for the safety of children; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to submit a report to the Legislature of its findings and recommendations, including any legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Transportation.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Hybrid and Electric Vehicles; Audibility; Blind Pedestrian Safety