The 'greenest' of cars out there are the fully electric cars, and soon enough, there will be more of them on our roads than ever. Saves on gas, less pollution..good stuff, eh.
I for one will miss one form of pollution that electric cars won't have - noise pollution. Particularly the kind of noise pollution that might save your life.
At anything above 50kph/25mph..car tires make some amount of noise as they roll along, regardless of what they're burning or not. Below that point, many hybrid cars and electric cars make no (or nearly no) noise whatsoever.
Here's my issue. I can tell when a car is coming, from where it's coming from and how fast unconsciously-from a good distance. There's a mental trigger associated with the noise from the engine that says "Look out".
I am wondering what unintended side-effects of the electric "silent" motor will have on pedestrian accidents. Particularly as it relates to people on bikes who can't hear a car behind them, people trying to cross the street and most importantly..the blind!
Anyone think about this? I had a hybrid roll past me at lunch and didn't hear it coming at all. It got me thinking.
Should electric "Silent" cars have a noise added to it?
