Mason
1
Technology/Science
Pub Name: Making Electric Cars Safe and Sound
Writer: Matthew Knight
Pub Date: 23 September 2010
Length: about 650 words
Electric cars are much cleaner than regular cars, but because electric cars are silent, it is posing a new problem for the safety of pedestrians. Pedestrians need to hear the noise of an engine stopping or accelerating when they are crossing the street. There is a noise making device that will be added to electric cars that have close to silent engines. Also, the manufactures need to produce a noise that isn't annoying to listen to. Toyota has started selling a noise making device which fits into the hybrid Prius model in Japan, and they want to start selling the device in the United States. Research is now coming out of Northern America but Japan is the only place Toyota has started selling some kind of noise device. They say that people might be able to come up with their own noise to be made into one of the devices. Now, another appeal of electric cars is being able to make your own customized sound.
Conclusion: This will decrease the number of deaths significantly by electric cars. Hopefully, this noise making device will come out sooner than expected, and the people of Palo Alto will be able to install the device into their Prius's themselves. Also, it would be a good idea to put the device into the car before it is sold.
I think it's a good idea to make the engines a little louder while keeping the environmentally friendly aspect of the car.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's nicer to have a more quiet drive, its dangerous for pedestrians. It's especially dangerous for blind pedestrians. When they cross the street, they normally would be able to hear cars, but because the car is so quiet it becomes a danger for them.
They should install this feature into all hybrids as soon as possible, and people who have a hybrid currently should buy one of these noise making machines. Though it will cost them money, in the long run it could save them money. Say someone didn't hear the engine and crossed the street, and this hybrid hit them. They could be sued for this accident, where as if they had installed it the problem wouldn't exist at all.
Electric cars are really the way of the future, so this is definitely an important article. This should be required for electric cars because of the safety issues.
ReplyDeleteI'm no engineer, but I really don't think that making them noisy is that difficult. The big issue with electric cars is opposition from the current car industry and the oil companies. They don't want to loose their empire.
I think it is a good idea to make a noise device in electric cars because they are silent and pose a big danger to pedestrians. Now days many people listen to music while they walk and expect to hear the cars coming but now they cant hear all of them because they make no sound. Also many blind people depend on noise to get across the street and now that they can't. So based on that the government should make it a law to have sound coming out of cars.
ReplyDeleteI believe electric cars should be invented quick and when it does it should be safe for the buyers to use. Coal, and oil is needed in order to drive a normal gas-runned car however unlike electricity coal, and oil is limited wich makes the price very high every time it runs out. Therefore creating a electric car would not only be safe it would also be a way of making the people feel confident about their money issues.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the electric cars and more green cars are amazing for the earth, there are some flaws that are becoming very dangerous to the rest of the world. It is important we keep increasing the number of electric cars but it is also important to make slight adjustments to the engines so they become a slight bit louder. I agree it can be very hard to hear, and for someone who is hard of hearing or even listening to an i-pod, this is a serious threat when they are crossing the street or such! I also agree it would significantly lower the number of deaths and injuries by electric cars.
ReplyDelete