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Last week, amid the cacophony of the Los Angeles auto show and post-election rancor, the federal government dropped a whisper of a press release. In so many words, Americans may no longer use a new Toyota Prius to silently creep up on people.
A new ruling mandates that, by 2019, electric and hybrid cars must emit artificial sounds so pedestrians, cyclists, and the blind can better detect these ultraquiet machines. It codifies the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act that Congress passed in 2010, with support from engineering group SAE International and various industry and advocacy groups for the blind. The feds first raised the issue back in 2007, well before the second-generation Toyota Prius would push hybrids into the mainstream.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates the added noise will prevent 2400 pedestrian injuries each year after September 1, 2019, when every new hybrid and EV must be equipped to make sounds. Automakers must equip at least half of such models by September 2018. Only vehicles under 10,000 pounds GVWR are included; electrified motorcycles, three-wheelers, and medium- and heavy-duty trucks are exempt. Want more logic" Gasoline and diesel vehicles with auto stop/start systems aren’t required to make extra sounds while stationary, while EVs and hybrids must.
NHTSA will require automakers to install external speakers that emit simple tones whenever the car is stationary, in reverse, or traveling up to 19 mph (...