HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	110
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, ALONG WITH THE UNITED STATES 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, as well as the rest of the nation, is growing and may equal or exceed the number of internal combustion engine vehicles in the near 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 to traverse 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, that the United States Department of Environmental Protection (EPA), along with the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), 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 EPA, along with USDOT, is requested to recommend minimum sound standards applicable to vehicles sold in, and licensed to travel on, the public roads of the United States 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 EPA, along with the USDOT, 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 certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of Transportation.

Report Title: 

Hybrid and Electric Vehicles; Audibility; Blind Pedestrian Safety