Discussion on:

Hybrids: safer for passengers, less so for pedestrians

IT'S CALLED A HORN DUUUUHHHH.

if driver does not see a pedestrian in front of him he/she is as dumb as a board.
furthermore if pedestrian is going out on the road without looking both ways first...
it's called survivor of the fittest (and smartest).
let it be....

10 out of 10 for compassion and caring for your fellow man, vl1969.

On the contrary to your view: hybrid car manufactures should be prosecuted for this increase in pedestrian accidents. Anyone could predict that a virtually noiseless vehicle traveling a say 30 mph in urban and residential environments was going cause pedestrian accidents; this was certainly the first thought that came to my mind when I first read about the concept of electric cars years ago.

How can car manufactures be so witless?

I don't think pedestrians are that witless out on the street. The more likely place to get hit is in a parking lot where cars and pedestrians mingle. Pedestrians tend to listen, change direction, then look, assuming that if they don't hear anything that there is nothing moving near them. I have done this myself, nearly getting in the path of a hybrid. I certainly hope they don't go overboard making noise. People will adapt to new realities, but it takes time and you don't want people injured in the interim.

make backup alarms mandatory on all cars along with some flashing LEDs
to show which car is backing up.
teach drivers going out of parking place head first(not int reverse) to honk the horn before pulling away just in case their view is obstructed, and be cerefull any way when driving away.

this is the only situations I do agree that are dangerouse and put cars and pedestrians on equal ground.

Just stand near an expressway or a busy street. Listen to the noise. Noise that we tune out because we hear it all the time is still there, and its effects are still felt. Noise reduction means less stress, better sleep, better concentration, etc. Bicycle riders use a little jingle or horn to warn pedestrians; drivers can do the same. Calling auto manufacturers 'witless' for making quiet cars, is, in itself, a witless act!

idiots that stepping down on the road without looking MUST be eliminated
using Darvin Law PERIOD. Hybrid my A@@, I see people going infront cars they can clearly see moving out of the parking place, I guess just becouse they feel that they have the right way against a 3000 LB hung of steel. (I say run them down and leave them there to serve as an example for others.)
and an idiot going infront of the car should be prosecuted for the damages his stupidity coused to the car.

Could it be that hybrids are driven in city/urban settings more than their gasoline counterparts. Could it be that the typical hybrid is driven by a mature educated driver while the gasoline version is more likely to be driven by a teen.
Headline -- Teens have more accidents than their parents.

It was likelihood of injury in the case of an accident.

Maybe a cow bell, or a bike bell continually ringing would solve the dilemna. Of course, it would drive everyone else looney.

I like it.

...that can't be improved with more cowbell?

Put a playing card in the spockes of nthe wheels

Looking let, right & left again is simple enough before you step into the road !

...I'd rather people were encouraged to look before crossing rather than assuming nothing's coming if they don't hear anything.

I am both a pedestrian and a driver (as most of us are) and when I was a child, we were taught to look both ways, and look again, before crossing. We were also taught to use the crosswalks. Now more and more states are passing laws requiring drivers to give pedestrians the right of way, no matter where they cross. That sounds fine in practice, and it probably does reduce pedestrian-vehicle accidents, but one side effect I have noticed as a driver is that now there are more and more pedestrians who don't even look before crossing...they just step out into the street with an arrogant attitude as if challenging a driver to even nudge them. Then they saunter slowly across the street, again as arrogant as possible, glaring at the drivers who are waiting and getting irritated by the arrogant attitude of the pedestrian. It can be so bad at times that you just want to run the s.o.b. down and to heck with the consequences. Courtesy goes both ways, from the driver and from the pedestrian. When I am in a state that has pedestrian right-of-way laws, and I am walking, I watch the traffic, and if my crossing is going to cause inconvenience for the drivers and flow of traffic, and even risk of an accident, I look the driver in the eye, smile and give him or her the go-ahead. I always get an appreciative smile back, and we both go our ways with a little good feeling instead of anger at the arrogant driver or pedestrian.

is the driver is supposed to stop for pedestrians even if the pedestrian is crossing illegally. You can't intentionally plow through someone crossing illegally. The pedestrian is supposed to cross at a crosswalk, or at least an intersection if there's no crosswalk, otherwise they may get ticketed. Lack of enforcement is the problem.
If most of the increase is due to low speed accidents in parking lots, maybe make the noise cut off above a certain speed. Though many gas vehicles in a parking lot may be hard to hear above road and highway noise from an adjacent road.