Electric or hybrid vehicles (when running in electric mode) will stop being totally quiet at low speeds in an effort to avoid run over due to the fact that pedestrians are unaware of their presence.

 

For many, despite their benefits in ecological terms because they do not emit any pollution in driving, electric vehicles are seen as a 'silent threat' in the sense that they do not emit noise that denounces their presence, especially in large cities, where the confluence of many other noises can easily 'mask' the presence of the electric on the road. The European Union will therefore require that all new electric and hybrid vehicles sold in Europe from July of next year be equipped with a system that emits a noise at low speeds, and the models already on the road will have to be equipped with the same device until the year 2021.

 

Many of today's cars already have a low-speed sound-emitting system, which serves precisely to address this issue. However, they also have a button that allows you to turn off the noise at low speeds. The new European directive provides for their elimination so that drivers can not disable this noise-emitting command at low speeds. A study by the British guide dog association, Guide Dogs, argues that "pedestrians are 40 percent more likely to be hit by a hybrid or electric than by a petrol or diesel car in the UK." On the other hand, a study from the University of California, in 2008, points out that "some electric and hybrid vehicles can not be heard until a second before the impact with a pawn", and those who listen to music through headphones, with disabilities of visual nature or that use bicycles belonging to this group of 'risk'.

 

 

 

The noise to be presented by the vehicles will have a white noise nature associated with specific sound effects that will only be activated at speeds lower than about 30 km / h. Above that, the electric vehicles will return to their usual silence.

 

 

Source, Motor24.