Electric cars forced to make noise

Electric car manufacturers may be forced to add noise emitting devices to vehicles in a bid to stop accidents involving pedestrians, according to a new Japanese government review.

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo Published: 11:32AM BST 06 Jul 2009

The silent hum of hybrid petrol-electric vehicles, which recently became number one best-selling cars in Japan, has been deemed dangerous to pedestrians, in particular the visually impaired.
When switched from fuel to battery mode, the vehicles make a barely perceptible noise, prompting campaigners to urge the installation of noise devices to prevent accidents.

A new government panel of scholars, consumers, police, vision-impaired groups and automobile industry leaders has been formed in Japan to discuss whether the eco-friendly cars should be installed with compulsory noise-making devices.
"We have received opinions from automobile users and vision-impaired people that they feel hybrid vehicles are dangerous," said a transport ministry official.
"Blind people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed" and on the electric motor, he added.
A report will be drawn up by the panel by the end of the year and their proposals discussed at the Transport Ministry's committee on automobile safety before it is drafted into legislation.
High oil prices and growing concern about global warming emissions have fuelled the soaring popularity of environmentally-friendly hybrid vehicles, particularly among Japanese car owners.
Toyota's latest recession-defying Prius last month became the best-selling car in Japan's domestic market, selling 22,292 vehicles, more than 6,000 more than the same month last year, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.
Despite their growing popularity, it is not the first time that safety issues surrounding the fuel-efficient noiseless cars has been raised by campaigners.
The United States government is currently examining a new bill aiming to establish a minimum level of sound for vehicles that do not use internal-combustion engines to prevent accidents.
Similar steps are also being considered by the European Commission in a bid to alert pedestrians to the presence of the near- silent cars.