<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> <div class="logo"> (Sustran readers: Forgive this posting about hybrids, I am posting this because of the comments from Toyota, in relation to Jakarta where Toyota is king and disabled people have to carry signs and dont have accessibility-infrastructure... this is already a social concern)<br> <br> - T<br> <br> ***<br> <br> <br> <img src="cid:part1.08030606.06070900@greenidea.eu" alt="BBC NEWS" height="34" width="163"></div> <div class="headline"><b> Japan rethinks silent hybrid cars</b> </div> <p> <b>Japan is considering the introduction of noise-making devices for near-silent hybrid cars following safety fears from vision-impaired pedestrians. </b> </p> <p> "Vision-impaired people feel that hybrid vehicles are dangerous", a transport ministry official told AFP. </p> <p> The top-selling hybrid vehicles run almost without any sound when they change from fuel to battery mode. </p> <p> The ministry of transport has brought together a panel that will draw up a report by the end of the year. </p> <div class="bo"> <p>The panel is considering forcing manufacturers of hybrid cars to introduce a sound-making function that alerts passersby to the presence of a vehicle. </p> <p> "Blind people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed," the transport ministry official said. </p> <p> The world's most popular hybrid, the Prius, was launched by Toyota in 1997. </p> <p>Paul Nolasco, a spokesman for Toyota Motor in Tokyo, told the BBC it had no immediate plans to add noise-making devices to the hybrid vehicles. </p> <p> "But if it becomes a social concern, it is something we will have to address", Mr Nolasco added. </p> </div> <div class="footer">Story from BBC NEWS:<br> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8132548.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8132548.stm</a><br> <br> Published: 2009/07/03 11:01:56 GMT<br> <br> © BBC MMIX<br> </div>   <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">-- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Green Idea Factory Urbanstr. 45 D-10967 Berlin Germany Skype: toddedelman Mobile: ++49 0162 814 4081 Home/Office: ++49 030 7554 0001 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:edelman@greenidea.eu">edelman@greenidea.eu</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.greenidea.eu">www.greenidea.eu</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.facebook.com/toddedelman">www.facebook.com/toddedelman</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman">www.flickr.com/photos/edelman</a> CAR is over. If you want it. "Fort mit der Autostadt und was Neues hingebaut!" - B. Brecht (with slight modification)</pre> </body> </html>