One of the advantages of hybrid or electric cars is the relative silence of their operation. No longer do you have loud engines rattling and revving along the roadways. Instead the streets are quiet, save for the delightful laughter of the children playing hopscotch on the sidewalk or the cooing of the young romantic couple out for a stroll through the neighborhood.
But not if American legislators have their way. The silence of electric and hybrid cars is a liability, not a benefit, they say. It turns these vehicles into quiet killers and something must be done to protect those who would unwittingly put themselves into the path of one of these deadly, shark-like terrors.
“This is an example of too much of a good thing. Cars got quieter, that was good. Suddenly they got to be so quiet that it added an element of danger.” – John Pare, executive director for strategic initiatives with the National Federation of the Blind
It seems to me that quiet is good, unnecessary noise is bad. If you’re stepping into the path of vehicle, regardless of the level of noise it is making, I am thinking the problem is with the person doing the stepping, not the vehicle. Bicycles have been a threat to the vision-impaired and elderly for over a hundred years on the streets — why hasn’t it been legislated that every bicycle be outfitted with mandatory baseball cards in its spokes to warn of its approach?
Here is my solution that requires no legislation at all: Remind drivers of electric and hybrid vehicles that the low noise level means they should be extra vigilant as society slowly transitions to the idea that a car doesn’t have to make a lot of noise in order to function properly. Remind others like the vision-impaired or elderly of the same thing and to use aids or take extra care when out on the streets.
Either that or give everyone in a hybrid a vuvuzela.