Silence is Golden

I'd like to chime in on a topic that is gaining momentum in the courts of public opinion, and that's the notion that electric cars are too quiet and should be required to produce noise while operating.  I personally have had four instances of pedestrians or cyclists not hearing me on the street or in a parking lot.  And let me point out, THREE of those instances were pedestrians on cell phones and were so involved in their respective conversations, they failed to notice a big blob of metal, plastic and glass heading towards them.  The fourth instance was a long haired idiot on a bicycle wearing HEADPHONES!  None of these instances, I believe, were the result of any lack of noise of my F-Cell and completely that of people not paying attention to the task at hand, be it walking or bicycling.



Now I'm not going to suggest that all instances of car versus pedestrian near misses/not misses are because the ped wasn't paying attention, nor am I going to suggest that having some noise generated at low speeds would be a bad thing on electric cars.  But I believe pedestrians must also be held accountable for looking where they're going, in the same way pedestrians need to look out for nearly silent bicyclists who could also run into them.  In fact, I wager there are more injuries from bicycle/pedestrian collisions than from electric car/pedestrian collisions in any given city at any given time.  And yet, I hear no calls for legislation requiring for bicycles to generate noise like a food blender while in motion. 

As a driver of an electric car who faces these challenges every day, I disagree in requiring an audible noise to be generated AT ALL TIMES from an electric car.  But similar to a bicycle chime bell, perhaps there is a mild sound generating "horn" that can be installed to all electric cars that allow the drivers to activate a noise AS NEEDED, and activate voluntarily, like in a parking lot or while creeping along in a residential area.  Something milder than an actual horn, but more than just the faint electric motor current noise that may not be sufficient to stand out to those not paying attention.

As with all new technologies, I believe there will be teething as society learns to cope with them, and electric cars are no different.