A bill intended to protect blind people and other pedestrians from the dangers posed by quiet cars will be introduced Wednesday in Congress.
The measure would require the Secretary of Transportation to establish safety standards for hybrids and other vehicles that make little discernible noise, including an audible means for alerting people that the cars are nearby.
Is making cars louder the wisest, and most effective, choice? Are the blind really at risk? And if so, if the purpose is to protect as many people as possible, are they the majority of pedestrians killed in car accidents? I do wonder if this is not just another case of politicians reacting to a sympathetic, and vocal, lobby. And making cars louder does seem a ridiculous idea.
References:
Congress to take up issue of silent hybrid cars.
News release by congressman Ed Towns.
The bill.
“Transparency” - There’s a word not often heard from the mouths of politicians, unless it’s directed at the opposition. Who are these people who govern us? We do not know. We know all too little about their beliefs, their goals, their actions, their failures, and their successes. We need to know, for we have given them the power to govern over us.
So let’s keep tags on them. Let’s collect information about them, let’s share the information we have. Let them not hide anymore from us behind the power we have given them.
If you agree, then you should consider the following idea. Let’s setup a wiki where people can collect information on parties, politicians, and high government officials from every government in the world. Let’s publish their CVs on the internet, and let’s talk about what they do and have done. There should be forums, articles, pictures, and videos.
Let politicians be haunted and humbled by their failures, and let them take pride in their successes. Let them know the true burden they carry. The established media have too short a memory and attention span. We should not.