I was recently walking down the road and an electric car passed me. If you live in London, this might not be unusual for you, but where I live, it is quite the rarity. The reason I knew it was an electric was that as it drove towards me from behind, I heard a car but it sounded unusual. "Congratulations" I'm sure you are sarcastically saying, "You heard a car", but I thought it interesting because the problem as far as I was aware, with electric cars, is that no one can hear them coming and so they knock people over left right and centre, Grand Theft Auto stylee. This got me thinking.The main sound I hear from cars is the tyre noise. I very rarely hear the engine of a car. Particularly in towns where the cars are just pottering about. Surely this would also be the case for electric cars. As far as I am aware, we haven't got the Back to the Future stage of hovering cars where there is no tyre or engine noise.
Also, I heard the electric motors whirling away. I think, if anything, the electric motors are louder than combustion engines, unless the car is racing somewhere.
So here is my point, and it is two fold. Firstly, I hate the idea that electric cars are going to get artificial noises played while they are travelling. Just imagine it. The engine equivalent of the Nokia ringtone going off every time a car passes you. Actually, if cars came pre-loading the the sounds from the Jetson's car, I maybe wouldn't mind it so much. The second fold of my point is that I love the idea of electric cars and I fear that any excuse, particularly made up rubbish about them being dangerous because they don't make enough noise, will delay or stop their introduction.
At this point I'm sure you are getting the wrong impression about me so I wish to set it straight. I don't care about global warming. I don't care how much cars may or may not be contributing to it. I don't believe cars are the source of all evil. In fact, as someone that isn't allowed to use one due to my eye sight, I can see (pardon the pun) that they are a great form of transport and the freedom they give people would be liberating, but I digress. What I love about the idea of electric cars is the lack of car fumes around me. I don't know how many times I walk around and the stink of car fumes becomes obnoxious. This is particularly acute in cities like London and Manchester. The fresher air would be a breath of fresh air! I doubt there will be many that would argue with me on this one. I have spoken to very few people that have come back from a holiday in the country saying, "It's lovely to get home. Fill your lungs with that smoggy air".One of the main communities I have heard making noises about the 'silent' electric cars is the blind community. For a long time I agreed with their reasoning. It makes sense that silent cars would be more dangerous crossing the road but having come across a number of electrics cars, there has not been one have I not heard. No cars have snuck up on me without me hearing them. I have always heard them before I have seen them, and in fact their unusual motor sound, while they remain rare, makes them more noticeable if anything.
I conclude that as a community, blind and partially sighted people have to pick their battles. If complaints are made about subjects that the average man on the street thinks isn't accurate, when complaints are made about real issues, no one will listen. Reminds me of a story I heard once about a young Shepard and a pesky wolf.
