NHTSA Considering a New Standard for Pedestrian Safety Alarms on All Hybrids
By Michelle Fisher As school districts nationwide acquire more hybrid school
buses, pupil transportation professionals are keeping an eye on NHTSA’s rulemaking process for a new standard that would require pedestrian safety alarms on all hybrid vehicles. NHTSA conducted two studies in 2009 and 2010 that found
an increased rate of pedestrian crashes for hybrid vehicles compared to those with an internal combustion engine (ICE). One of the main findings in the 2010 report is that there are “significant” differences in human response times with electric versus ICE propulsion. “NHTSA has already been studying this problem in advance of
the new law,” said Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation in a blog earlier this year. “[Phase 1] showed that the average person — not just the visually impaired — took significantly longer to detect vehicles operating in electric mode.” According to NHTSA’s FARS database, 21 pedestrians
were killed in school bus–related crashes in 2009, including seven youth. Now, student transporters question whether the much quieter hybrid school buses could pose a greater safety threat to students who might not hear them coming. “Some
younger children
don’t know what certain sounds mean, and some older children are so self-absorbed, or involved in conversations with friends, that they’re unaware of anything else around them,” said Linda Farbry, transportation director for Fairfax County (Va.) Public Schools. “Every warning we can provide and the constant vigilance of well-trained and responsible drivers will help to keep those numbers down.” Ralph Knight, director of transportation for Napa Valley
RISKS OF ‘QUIETER’ HYBRIDS REMAIN UNCLEAR Even though school bus drivers are trained to check their
mirrors before driving off, Knight noted that there is still a potential for tragedy if they don’t take a second or third look. Farbry said the extra vigilance practiced by the vast majority
of school bus drivers, who regularly receive safety training, actually
provides school children added protection
compared to other pedestrians. Transportation Director Patrick O’Brien of Spartanburg 3
School District in Glendale, S.C., opined that his hybrid school bus is no quieter than regular conventional buses, which means pedestrians should be able to hear them. O’Brien said he checked with his bus mechanics and hybrid bus driver, and they agreed with him on the noise level. “Safety is, of course, always a concern, and I can honestly say
we treat the buses the same,” said O’Brien. “[Te hybrid] does have a safety alarm that activates when you close the service door. It is a seven-second alarm that automatically blows the horn six times before we can continue.” “We have a hybrid bus on
the road,” Farbry added. “As I understand it, there is some noise produced on that bus.” Pete Japikse, director of pupil for
transportation the Ohio
Drivers and techs at Spartanburg 3 School District in Glendale, S.C., said hybrid buses operate at about the same noise level as conventionals.
Department of Education, echoed Farbry and noted that the hybrid school buses operating in his state are not as silent at low speeds as hybrid cars. “In these school buses, the
engine operates at all times, even when the electrics are in
(Calif.) Unified — one of the first school districts to run hybrid buses in the 1980s — said he would support a start-up alarm to alert students that the hybrid vehicle is in motion. “Way back when the first buses came out, we experienced
concerns because, when you have engine-off version of a vehicle, the kids are not scared of things. Even the CNGs are so much quieter. Kids would be hanging around their buses, near the wheel,” Knight said. “We had concerns about that because these vehicles are silent. Tere needs to be some kind of start-up alarm to let people know they are coming.”
32 School Transportation News Magazine October 2011
use at low speeds. As such, there is not a silent operating mode that could be of risk to students,” said Japikse. Te Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 mandates
that all new electric (EV) or hybrid vehicles (HV) must emit an alert sound for pedestrians (see the full text of law at
www.stnonline.com/go/843). So, NHTSA initiated a scoping process by inviting comments from federal, state and local agencies and the public to help identify the environmental issues and alternatives under consideration. In its comment, SAE International, a society of engineers
specializing in motor-vehicle standards development, stated that the SAE standard “Measurement of Minimum Noise
as
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