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Pedestrians and Bike Riders Involved in Double the Accidents with Hybrid Cars
In the desire to go “Green,” the steady increase in hybrid cars on the road are causing a drastic increase in the number of car accidents with pedestrians and bicycle riders. According to a recently released report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, due to the lack of noise generated from hybrid engines, pedestrians and cyclists are less likely to hear such vehicles that were turning, slowing or backing up.
Thankfully, in light of this unintended side-effect, vehicle manufacturers are apparently proposing to include a device in their vehicles which would generate noise under certain circumstances, such as the back-up warnings used on commercial trucks.
The study reviewed over 8,000 hybrid and 550,000 non-hybrid car accidents in 12 states, including Florida, and determined the collisions usually took place at low speeds, when the sound difference between a hybrid and traditional car engine is the most pronounced.