Hybrid Vehicles – Dangerous To Pedestrians?
Hybrid vehicles may be the answer to freeing our country from the clutches of the oil producing states and reducing greenhouse gasses but they may create a dangerous environment for pedestrians, bicyclists and the visually impaired. Federal legislators and car manufacturers say they’re concerned about the situation and are testing several possible solutions. Technology entrepreneurs are seeing an opportunity to make a safety difference and a profit.
The newly introduced Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008, H.R. 5734, requires congress to study methods to protect pedestrians from hybrid, electric and other silent-engine technologies and consider imposing new safety standards on automakers.
According to statistics by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, we find that no visually impaired pedestrians have been killed during the last five years by hybrid vehicles, even though about six blind pedestrians die annually in the United States. NHTSA Researchers compared the number of pedestrian and bicyclist crashes involving both hybrid electric vehicles and more common internal combustion engine vehicles. Findings show that vehicles with the quiet HEV engines have higher-incidence crash rates. The study also showed:
•Pedestrians were twice as likely to be hit by an Hybrid Electric Vehicle when the vehicle was slowing or stopping, backing up, or entering or exiting a parking space.
•Bicyclist crashes involving hybrid engine vehicles at intersections or interchanges were significantly higher than those involving internal combustion engine vehicles.
In 2008, there were 61 pedestrian fatalities in Tennessee. The good news is that this number was down from the previous year. In 2004, the Tennesese Department Of Transportation instituted the “Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Policy”, which specifically addressed the need to improve transportation conditions for pedestrians by designing infrastructure that provides safe, accessible facilities for walking on all new and reconstructed state highways. As a result of this plan, many of Tennessee’s roadways are now safer and more accommodating to pedestrian travel.
If you or a loved one are injured in a Nashville pedestrian accident contact the experienced Nashville pedestrian accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates, get a free consultation and learn about your rights and remedies.
Phillip Miller is a Tennessee Accident Attorney specializing in
Phillip has an AVVO rating of 10.0 (Superb), has been designated as a “Superlawyer”, and is the President Elect of the Tennessee Association for Justice.
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