Here's the rest of the story: ""The beneficial trend toward more environmentally friendly vehicles has had the unintended effect of placing the blind and other pedestrians in danger," said Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., who's sponsoring the bill with Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.
Stearns said he realized how important the legislation was when he had his own close call with a quiet car. "I was down in Florida in the parking lot of a shopping center, and I was wheeling my groceries with my wife, and I didn't hear a car come up behind me," Stearns said. "If all the cars are silent in the future, it does pose a problem, not just for the blind, but for people that are not paying attention, particularly senior citizens and also children." _______ So Stearns was personally affected, thus his co-sponsoring the bill. Walkers or runners potentially could knock down an old person, so they need beepers attached to their belts. Those walking or riding a bicycle while wearing earphones should have a beeping sound introduced to their music to warn them that a vehicle could be approaching. For the deaf though, they would hear the sounds of approaching cars, so each car or truck should have a projecting powerful strobe light that would bounce light off anything in the immediate area, thus catching the eye and potentially saving a life. Frank -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paul Renneisen Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 12:49 PM To: FLEAA Mailing List Subject: Re: [FLEAA] FW: [fitforum] Showcase Winners in the College of Engineering Folks, along the lines of helping our cause: Channel 10 Fort Lauderdale. Hydrids threaten the blind. Reported today. Please see my reply on their comment line via the website. With 13% of Iraq war vets blind, twice Vietnam, which was twice WWII, the "quiet" supporters from big oil are NOT suggesting that the very quiet ALL GASOLINE cars have the SAME NTSB restriction on their production. BUT BIG OIL CARS SHOULD ALSO COMPLY IF THEY ARE GOING TO USE DISABLED VETS TO SELL THEIR CAUSE. THIS BILL IS CLOSE TO GETTING A VOTE. Please post with facts, not passion. We all know that this "too quiet" vehicle issue was around LONG BEFORE THE ELECTRIC CAR SHOWED UP. Why now? http://www.topix.com/tech/2008/04/plan-would-make-hybrids-noisy-to-protect-blind Please post. There are already 1425 replies, many pushing discrimination against hybrid or electric vehicles. ALL vehicles should have motion detect-alert features. After all, those motion lights on the house work just fine. The cost should be reasonable enough for ALL vehicles. Discrimination against the green community is wrong. For peace and prosperity, PAUL RENNEISEN Fort Lauderdale. FLEAA Folks, > > You may be interested in the results of this year's Florida Tech > Project Showcase awards. > > The President's Cup for Best of Show went to Performance Hybrid > Racing, an > SAE > formula car modified to run on Hybrid (Gasoline and electric) power. > > This was the follow-on project to the Racing Electric Vehicle from > last year. > This vehicle looks similar, but REV was saved and still exists. > > Note the scope of the other projects as well, a tribute to the engineering > design process. > > Frank Leslie > > _____ > > From: Stephanie T Hopper [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 11:14 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [fitforum] Showcase Winners in the College of Engineering > > > > Congratulations go out to all the students who participated in this year's > student Project Showcase. It was a wonderful exhibit of the talent present at > this university. > > > > This year the following Engineering teams received awards: > > Senior Teams- > > > > The President's Cup, Honoring the Best of Show for all the College of Engineering was awarded to Performance Hybrid Racing, an SAE formula car modified to run on Hybrid (Gasoline and electric) power. > > > > Second Place in Aerospace Engineering - FIT SAT 4 > > FITSat IV is a 10 x 10 x 10 cm satellite, weighing no more than 1 kg. > Satellites with these specifications are universally known as CubeSats. > > > > Best of Show - Aerospace Engineering - Tank Fluid Dynamics > > An Experimental model for predicting liquid sloshing over a wide > variety of parameters such as tank geometry, liquid density, and > gravity. > > > > Best of Show - Chemical Engineering - Implementation of the Cumene Process > for > Phenol Acetone Production > > > > Best of Show - Civil Engineering - Babcock Pedestrian Bridge, a design for > crossing from the dorms to main campus. > > > > Best of Show - Computer Science - MAVEN, A light weight, > reconfigurable data > acquisition tool > > > > Best of Show - Electrical and Computer Engineering - Fouse - Touchless Computer > Interaction using fiber optics > > > > Best of Show - DMES - SeaWeed ROV - a remote operated vehicle for design3ed to > be light weight and maneuverable for hull inspections, underwater archeology and > scientific research. > > > > Best of Show - Mechanical Engineering - Mini Baja - Pantera Racing, > an SAE all > terrain vehicle for the intercollegiate competition. > > > > > > Junior teams- Most Promising Design > > > > Aerospace Engineering - Panther II > > Electrical and Computer Engineering - WAVES - Wireless Audio Video > Entertainment System > > DMES - Marine Diving Unit > > Mechanical Engineering - Harris Counter Balance Team > > > > > > At your service, > > > > Stephanie T. Hopper > > Director of Laboratories - College of Engineering > > University Laser Safety Officer > > Florida Institute of Technology > > > > Office - (321) 674-7349 > > Cell - (321) 795-9440 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Florida EAA mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.floridaeaa.org > _______________________________________________ Florida EAA mailing list [email protected] http://www.floridaeaa.org _______________________________________________ Florida EAA mailing list [email protected] http://www.floridaeaa.org
