It is a little worse than that, as HR 5734 is currently written:

• 0.2% of the US population is blind under the age of 80
• 99.8% of the USA pedestrians are annoyed by another noise
• only approaching vehicle noise is useful to the blind, just half the time
• the hybrid driver is annoyed 100% of the time

I can not calculate the driver's total annoyance time since I don't know the ratio of time when pedestrians are around to there being no pedestrians around. But if we look at just the 500 pedestrians including one ambulatory blind person, we're seeing:Does that help?

The nice thing about this analysis is the amount or duration of noise does not matter. The ratios are fixed regardless of what 'recommended' noise system is proposed.

We can further reduce the usefulness ratio by estimating the percentage of time there are pedestrians around versus all driving in the 'noise generator' speed range. This ratio is less than 100% and thus drives the 0.05% useful noise to an even lower value.

This is why we need to have a hybrid electric owner at the table. These basic facts were never discussed in the June 23 meeting but they will be in my submittal. The challenge is to get anyone to read them.

My plan is to gather as many petition signatures as possible at Hybridfest and use them as 'petition to congress.' Actually a petition to the Congressional representatives of everyone who signs a petition. This gives us a 'hook', a way to get these facts and data before our law makers.

The NHTSA and blind organizations have not been very open about the counter arguments to HR 5734. But since they turned me and my presentation down for the 'hybrid electric owners,' the NHTSA has baited the hook in a way that goes far beyond any ordinary understanding of hubris. ... Seriously, to tell me when I asked about fixing HR 5734, "Don't worry about it ..."

Bob Wilson
625k Inc.