Soundless EVs put vulnerable road users at risk

Electric vehicles (EVs) which operate without making any sound pose a threat to the safety of vulnerable road users (VRUs), says UK company SteerSafe. The firm adds that the European Union’s plan to make original equipment manufacturers add low-speed alerting sounders to all EVs in 2019 is too late as current models and buses are already in service.
May 4, 2018 Read time: 1 min

Electric vehicles (EVs) which operate without making any sound pose a threat to the safety of vulnerable road users (VRUs), says UK company SteerSafe. The firm adds that the European Union’s plan to make original equipment manufacturers add low-speed alerting sounders to all EVs in 2019 is too late as current models and buses are already in service.

SteerSafe refers to a report by Guide Dogs for the Blind in 2015 which claimed that VRUs are 40% more likely to be run over by a quiet vehicle than one with a combustion engine.

The company says quiet vehicle sounders, such as those made by sister company Brigade Electronics, can be employed to ensure the safety of VRUs. Brigade uses patented bbs-tek technology to provide multi-freqency sound that is only heard in the hazard zone – thus alerting VRUs to potential danger.

Related Content

  • Avoiding the call of the wild
    June 29, 2018
    Hitting an animal on a rural road can be fatal for all parties involved – but detecting and avoiding them requires clever technology. Andrew Williams carefully scans the horizon for details. Wildlife-vehicle collisions are an ever-present threat in rural areas around the world, and there is certainly nothing funny about suddenly finding an angry moose in your headlights on a sharp bend. A variety of detection and avoidance systems are currently in use or under development to help prevent your vehicle being
    Read More
  • ULEZ: London’s burning issue
    November 3, 2023
    Many Londoners lost their cool during the city’s massive, late-summer ULEZ expansion. Will it be worth the pain and what can other cities learn from it? Andrew Stone assesses the story so far…
    Read More
  • European tunnel safety steps up a gear
    September 19, 2017
    David Crawford reviews the latest safety systems installed in European tunnels. Blueprints for the safer road tunnels of the future are emerging fast as European operators invest in technologies to enhance travellers’ prospects of surviving an accident. Central to modern emergency planning is the principle that, following an incident, drivers should be enabled to rescue themselves and their passengers with the aid of prompt and correct identification and communication of the hazard. Roles for cooperativ
    Read More
  • Joanna M. Pinkerton: “Mobility should be ubiquitous for people"
    January 3, 2024
    A chance meeting with a US Air Force recruiter may have changed Joanna M. Pinkerton's life: the boss of Central Ohio Transit Authority tells Adam Hill about this and explains why an outcomes-based approach to transportation is so important
    Read More

Highlighted Content