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In Baltimore, the National Federation of the Blind is protesting because hybrid cars are too quiet -- and thus pose a hazard to them. They rely on their hearing to cross streets. But hybrid cars can be hazardous to them because they are so quiet that they can't hear them approach.
They made it a point to say that they don't want a return to gas guzzlers -- they just want the hybrids to make some noise. That didn't stop an environmentalist from e-mailing the present of the NFB and saying "that the members of his group should be the first to drown when sea levels rise from global warming." Showing more class, the NFB president said "I don't want to pick that way of going, but I don't want to get run over by a quiet car, either."
What can manufacturers do? What should they do? I don't want blind people to get run over, either. (My aunt was legally blind, and I wouldn't have wanted her to get hit by a hybrid.) But should they make their cars louder because of the protests of the NFB?
They made it a point to say that they don't want a return to gas guzzlers -- they just want the hybrids to make some noise. That didn't stop an environmentalist from e-mailing the present of the NFB and saying "that the members of his group should be the first to drown when sea levels rise from global warming." Showing more class, the NFB president said "I don't want to pick that way of going, but I don't want to get run over by a quiet car, either."
What can manufacturers do? What should they do? I don't want blind people to get run over, either. (My aunt was legally blind, and I wouldn't have wanted her to get hit by a hybrid.) But should they make their cars louder because of the protests of the NFB?