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Hybrid cars are silent killers
As makers of conventional engines strive to make them quieter, there are calls to increase the noise level of petrol-electric hybrids, some of which run almost silently at low speeds.

More than 5000 hybrid cars and SUVs were sold in Australia in 2008, most either Toyota Prius or the Honda Civic.

Harold Scruby from the Pedestrian Council of Australia said children, cyclists, the elderly and the blind were most at risk of being hit by the electric vehicles, which emitted much less noise than petrol or diesel vehicles.

"When children are taught to cross the road they're taught three things _ stop, look and listen,'' he said.

"When you have an electric car running on electric mode you can't hear them.

It should be mandatory that these manufacturers build into them some noise function - not too noisy, but enough so that people can hear them coming.''

Engineers overseas have begun to address the issue, with Lotus Group demonstrating its Safe and Sound technology that mimics the noise of a fuel engine in an electric vehicle.

In some states of the US, legislators have proposed regulations requiring cars to have minimum noise levels.

Honda Australia spokesman Mark Higgins said the claims by Mr Scruby did not apply to the popular sedan.

"The hybrid version of the Civic is a 1.3-litre petrol car with supplementary electric engine,'' he said.

"The supposed lack of sound is not an issue at all.''

Hybrids account for a small fraction of new car sales, but an organisation for the blind and those with limited vision said the problem would grow as hybrids became popular.

Vision Australia general manager of policy and advocacy Michael Simpson said he wanted the Federal Government to encourage vehicle manufacturers to conduct more research.

"We don't believe that simply putting noise into cars is the answer,'' he said.

"We believe there needs to be some research done around quiet vehicles and the safety risks that they present to all pedestrians - not just people who are blind.''
 
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