A row over silence

Paul Carter looks at how the drive towards making more of us drive environmentally-friendly vehicles may end up having consequences far and beyond merely reducing carbon emissions

Across the world, hybrid and electric vehicles are soaring in popularity, with models such as Toyota’s Prius becoming more and more commonplace on our roads and streets.

Hybrids are powered by a combination of a traditional combustion engine alongside an alternative fuel system such as an electric motor, which usually powers the vehicles at lower speeds or when stationary. This has the advantage of making the car much more economical when compared with cars running solely on petrol or diesel engines.

Despite their green credentials, campaigners in America have begun to lobby Congress for a change in the law – as the cars are too quiet.

They are expressing concerns that when running on their electric motors, hybrids and other electric vehicles make so little noise that they pose a real danger to blind and visually impaired pedestrians crossing the road who cannot hear the cars coming.

A study conducted by the University of California found that hybrid and electric vehicles driving at slow speeds get 40 per cent closer to pedestrians before they are loud enough to be heard. This also has the potential to impact on wheelchair-users and other people with mobility difficulties who may rely more heavily on their hearing to locate traffic around them.

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the largest organisation of blind people in the USA. It is taking the issue so seriously that it is attempting to get the law changed so that manufacturers are compelled to pre-install noise emitting technology.

Chris Danielsen, Director of Public Relations at the NFB, said that the bill would “prevent many injuries and fatalities while still allowing more clean vehicles on our nation’s roads.”

He said: “The National Federation of the Blind is still very much concerned about the impact of hybrid, electric, and other silent vehicle technologies on blind people.

We have advocated for the introduction of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 in the United States House of Representatives, which currently has over forty co-sponsors, and we expect that it will also be introduced in the Senate.

“Members of the National Federation of the Blind from across the United States have since descended on Capitol Hill, advocating for this bill and other legislative priorities of blind Americans, so we expect the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act
to continue to gain momentum.”

Several UK charities have also expressed concerns about how the growth of electric vehicle technology will affect blind people, and the issue looks set to be one that won’t be going away quietly.