Utah State Prof Says Hybrids Don't Kill More Pedestrians 187
thecarchik writes "Preliminary data seemed to show that hybrids were more likely to be involved in pedestrian crashes or hit cyclists. But now EV enthusiast Mark Larson (he's also an Emeritus Professor of Spanish at Utah State University) has analyzed some additional data and found this not to be the case at all. He used 1994-2008 figures from the Fatality Reporting System maintained by the NHTSA and found that the rate of pedestrian fatalities has in fact fallen over that same period."
The study just involves blind people (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The study just involves blind people (Score:5, Informative)
Unless there are a lot more hybrids on the road than I think, the conclusion you mention is drivel - there aren't enough hybrids to produce any meaningful change in the statistics yet.
loud pipes save lives (Score:1, Informative)
'nuff said
Re:Emeritus Professor of Spanish? (Score:5, Informative)
As someone who was clipped by a Prius in a parking lot when it was on battery, the damned things are quiet as hell and sneak up on you like a ICE powered automobile doesn't.
There is a simple technique that electric vehicle drivers could practice, that would solve this quietness problem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowing_a_raspberry [wikipedia.org]
All electric vehicle drivers should be required to do this while driving.
It's just like requiring folks to buckle their safety belts while riding in a car.
Kinda sorta . . .
Re:The study just involves blind people (Score:4, Informative)
It's not the only problem with the study. The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990. It's only very recently that many municipalities have made significant changes to accommodate the blind (and others.) Further, there have been recent changes to cars that make them safer for pedestrians (primarily in Europe, but some of the design changes have come to the US as well.)
Without attempting to correct for these factors, the study is worthless. It can say nothing beyond the fact that fewer blind people have died in traffic fatalities since 1994. (I must admit that I've not had a chance to read this fellow's work, although I did read the original NHTSA study.)
Re:The study just involves blind people (Score:3, Informative)
Was the NHTSA study corrected for 'location' ?
A lot of googlers drive priuses because of the $3k+ incentive Goggle was giving at the time. Also a lot of Googlers ride bikes with complete disregard of their own, or others, safety. Add to that these bikes are infamous for dropping their chain and hence the only braking system while going downhill at an intersection (they're cheap cruiser bikes).
I don't have any numbers but cyclist/pedestrian meet prius/SUV was quite frequent when I worked there. They even put buckets of small orange flags at street crossing for you to wave "don't run me over", and even got a red light installed by the city a the main parking lot entrance to reduce accident.
This example come to mind because I was biking to work and the concentration of priuses and adults with no clue on how to bike safely where a concern for my own safety.
Re:The study just involves blind people (Score:5, Informative)
You know, I've seen an increasing trend in that. "Experts" have been coming out with "studies" in fiends. Because they have "Professor" or "Doctor" somewhere near their name, they are immediately presumed to be experts in the field that they are discussing. It rarely takes much research, sometimes just reading the article, to find out that their area of expertise has nothing to do with the topic of the study.
The article does hit both sides of it though, which is good. I couldn't find what he is currently teaching though. He's listed to be an instructor in the USU Art Department. [usu.edu] His USU profile page [usu.edu] doesn't really indicate much. The indicated department doesn't show him as being on the faculty nor staff. [usu.edu]. That would be consistent with the "Emeritus" part of his title. He was a professor. He was in the art department, which doesn't seem to include any language arts.
I did find some rough name matches, so his art field may have been photography. Beyond that, I couldn't find anything about this guy.
So, his credentials went from sounding like an expert in the field, to "Mark Larson, retired art teacher", or more simply "Mark Larson, bored retired guy".
Re:The study just involves blind people (Score:3, Informative)
No. That would be the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Utah State University is located in Logan.
Re:Flawed (Score:3, Informative)
If you drive with the window down you'll be hearing wind noise and maybe your own tyres. Also, engines were much noisier back then, so why the hell would you listen for the tyres?
If you want to detect overtaking vehicles then that's what mirrors and your neck are for.