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posted by martyb on Wednesday November 16 2016, @03:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the fake-engine-noises-FTW-Vrrrm-Vrrrm! dept.

A US road safety body has demanded that electric cars travelling at low speed make a noise to warn pedestrians.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the rule was needed because battery-powered vehicles are very quiet.

It said the rule would particularly help blind pedestrians, or those with a visual impairment, detect electric cars and hybrids on the road.

The new safety rule could help prevent 2,400 injuries a year, said the NHTSA.

The rule demands that the cars make a noise when travelling either forwards or backwards at speeds of less than 30kmh (19mph). The regulation covers vehicles with four wheels that weigh less than 10,000 pounds (4.5 tonnes).

The safety specification requires car makers to use a two-tone signal similar to that currently emitted by heavy vehicles when they are reversing.

It would be more fun if drivers could customize what that sound is, such as "La Cucaracha" or the whine of a Shadow vessel.

Electric and hybrid cars are to include a noise generation device for travel at low speeds with no internal combustion engine: http://www.nhtsa.gov/About-NHTSA/Press-Releases/nhtsa_quiet_car_final_rule_11142016.

There goes my quiet electric future.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 16 2016, @06:06PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 16 2016, @06:06PM (#427654)

    > Wow. Missing the point so hard must surely be on purpose.

    Ditto.

    If you buy the neglected working man narrative, none of that, except possibly the VA, applies.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 16 2016, @10:50PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 16 2016, @10:50PM (#427828) Journal

    If you buy the neglected working man narrative, none of that, except possibly the VA, applies.

    I can't help but see this bureaucracy as highly relevant. This sort of regulation means less efficient businesses, less gainful employment of those neglected working men, and less economic activity and wealth building as a whole to help everyone.

  • (Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday November 17 2016, @08:03AM

    by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Thursday November 17 2016, @08:03AM (#428021)

    Many of those would fit in the urban vs rural theory.