It’s no secret I’m blind in one eye. I have been since birth. And while being monocular is perfectly normal to me, I also recognize that it brings limitations with my peripheral vision. Simply stated, I can’t see past my nose. So it should come as no surprise that I rely quite heavily on ambient sound to assist me in perceiving my surroundings. It helps tremendously for me to hear the cars, trucks, and other bikes, next to me.

Societally we are trending toward the idea of being “green.” This brings with it a new challenge for me. That is, hybrid cars are simply too quiet and I just don’t hear them when they are right next to me. And this of course, limits my ability to accurately understand the things by which I’m surrounded.  Not good…

In spite of the fact that I’m monocular, I simply cannot believe that I am so unique that I’d be the only rider who finds this just a tad disturbing. I wonder how many of the engineers at Ford, GM, Toyota, Nissan, and any other manufacturer, actually thought about ambient noise and the integral part it plays in the safety paradigm for those on the road. Consider that there are reasons for sirens on emergency vehicles and that every motor vesicle made has an audible horn.

My hope in writing this post is that it finds its way to the product management or customer advocacy teams at the auto manufacturers and they use it to correct what I consider to be a terrible problem with the design of hybrid vehicles. Note here, this is not a rant against being green. I happen to support such a movement. But when it brings with it new challenges my hope is they will be addressed swiftly. Simple.

More later…

General, Rants