Government Proposes Minimum Sounds for 'Quiet Cars': Are Electric Cars Dangerous?

Stupid, maybe they need to put proximity detectors on phones and ipods? After all, they put backup assist camera and people detectors on cars, as well as lane deviation alarms for sleeping drivers. If they can do all this to keep cars on the road and not running over things, why not an avoidance system on cell phones?

Put a bell on 'em.

Just look! You'll probably see it.

unless you're blind. Not everyone has a seeing-eye dog.

Another piece of legislation to protect those too stupid and/or self absorbed to pay attention to what is going on around them, whether the dumb is driving the car or walking in front of it. All cars have federally mandated noise makers for emergency situations and waking up idiots, it's called a horn.

Electric cars suffer from the same feature bloat, ugliness, and overengineering that all other cars have. There's no reason electric cars should cost any more than a gas engined car.

I'd buy an electric car if it looked like a '62 Chevy II, had lead-acid batteries, and a variable frequency A/C motor with a robust motor controller. Bring back the old 2-speed auto transmission and hook the electric motor up to it. Although electric motors don't technically need a transmission, the torque converter and two speeds will improve performance without adding much complexity.

All of the soccer mom options and computerized bullcrap is what makes electric cars expensive. When it comes time to replace batteries on my hypothetical electric car, just drive to AutoZone and swap out one deep cycle for another. Easy and cheap.

They can't save you in a collision with another object unlike the older models of vehicles.

Green cars, cost are high, No comes out to say your electric bill will be higher, no has sad what will happen for the batteries when there no good. It is sad when Government is pushing everyone to have green car.

NO, AMerican Flag

I'll meet you half way

Thanks for writing back, No this is not the American Flag of the United states of America, that we the people fought for since the beginning of America. Men
have fought America.

Vietnam Era Vet 1973-79, you're welcome.

thanks for writing but the symbol, the guy who is suppose to be?

It's obama.

thanks for writing back.

Don't mentch.

Less so for normally able adult humans; but electric vehicles are a real risk for children, pets, wildlife, and those with impaired vision.

..I can see (no pun intended) where blind people might have a problem, but everyone else should be watching for traffic...

You can't look in all directions at once. I had one come up on me from a direction I had already cleared. They MOVE, ya know?

Pay attention to the road--that means no eating, applying makeup, Facebooking, texting, chatting with your passengers, etc. Your attention should be focused solely on your surroundings.

I recently heard birds chirping as i sat at a crosswalk and eventually realized it was a noise intended to inform blind pedestrians that they could safely cross the street. Chirping was probably chosen because it was pleasant and blended into the serene atmosphere but that also seemed to render it ineffective. Not only would the blind need to really be on their toes, sighted pedestrians were looking up in the air trying to spot the source. I wonder how many bureaucrats it took to screw in that bulb and if the government approved hybrid car noise will be any better?

Yes they are people and job killers,

Just what we need a government regulation to make car sounds come from a hybrid. Maybe it would be better to tell the pedestrians and bikers to take their earbuds and headphones off and listen.

Listen for WHAT, when they're SILENT, you idiot.

The wheels scraping the pavement.

Wheels don't scrape unless you've lost control. Were you BORN stupid or did you go to some school?

People on BICYCLES make noise on the pavement. And they're not going anywhere near as fast.

Then they could make neat, futuristic sounds.

Have them make the sounds that Green Weenies make.

Yeah, make it grunt and pant like a cyclist. I'd do a redneck version, I'd mount a speaker behind the grill and wire it to my stereo.

If you are sleeping on a road, then yes.

Must have been a slow news day:)

They are usually fine, but can sometimes be a problem for the blind. I think the minimum sound requirement is a good idea. It could save the lives of blind people.

I will never buy one of these.

Accidents will happen no matter if it is a silent or loud vehicle.
The drivers and pedestrians need to look out for each other.

The stats will show in time that lose of life is increased by lack of safety construction and unreliability. Lack of acceleration in certain situations will cause accidents

It takes the whole 'Stop, Look, Listen' motto and turns it on its head. My neighbor has one and it is amazing how quiet it is. It is still the pedestrian's fault if they don't look well enough, but they are harder to detect than engines that make some noise and the drivers of the electric cars had better be cognizant of that when driving.

I know if a car is approaching too closely for me to cross or not. I also don't cross at intersections, because I don't need the possibility of cars coming from four different directions per lane.