Bikes & Cars...

Under cover of silence, they creep up on unwary pedestrians, inching ever forward on soundless, black tires, no internal-combustion engine to give them away. They are the latest urgent threat to prod Congress into lightning-quick action: hybrids cars and electric vehicles. Da-da-DAAAAH!

On Wednesday last week, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives requiring the Trasportation Department to determine whether a minimum sound level for cars and trucks is needed. If they find we do need it, the Transportation Department will then set it. If it passes, automakers would have two years to comply with the minimum noise level. A similar bill was passed by the Maryland state senate and house last month.

The bill addresses the concern, as expressed by the National Federation of the Blind, that blind pedestrians in particular will not be aware of approaching electric-only motors. The bill's target seems off, though, since a better solution might be to improve crosswalks for everyone's use, including children, the elderly, and people with their iPods cranked to maximum who like to dance across the street.

EV and hybrid-car owners do share the NFB's concerns. Revisit this RiverWired.com post to read quotes from early EV adopters. Suggested sounds range from horse hooves to squealing tires. Others already use some kind of aural alert, like shouting "Hey! Hey! Hey!" with the window down or relying on the sound of a heat pump or whirring fan to alert people to their ninja-like presence.

Ninja image by Shawnimals.