Electric vehicles might get equivalent of truck back-up alarms
Flash forward to the latest quandary when it comes to electric and hybrid vehicles: Some feel that they are TOO quiet, which might lead to pedestrian accidents, unless some safety measures are taken. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is beginning the process of exploring whether it needs to propose rules or regulations that mandate the inclusion of alert systems on electric and hybrid cars that would help pedestrians know when vehicles are "operating in certain low speed maneuvers." Notice that it doesn't say anything about high speeds, which is something I worry about because my husband is a motorcycle rider. At least drivers of those vehicles will be better able to hear him. But I digress.
The declaration by the agency is the first step in exploring the safety implications of electric and hybrid vehicles, per the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010. The NHTSA is seeking data related to this issue. Among the alternatives that the NHSTA is exploring:
- No action
- Use recordings of actual internal combustion engines to act as the alert sounds for electric vehicles
- Create a new alert systems that simulates internal combustion engines and that varies in pitch and loudness depending on the circumstances
- A combination of actual and synthesized alert sounds
- The use of sounds that wouldn't sound like a vehicle with an internal combustion engine
Since I know not one but two people who were injured and worse in the sorts of conditions we're talking about -- low-speed circumstances where they were unable to hear an oncoming vehicle -- I'm going to follow this issue closely. It is worth noting that Ford is accepting consumer feedback about the sound it should use for its electric vehicle models. I'm sure this will become more common as adoption rises.
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