Making Music Out of Traffic

The honks, hums, beeps, and screeches of city traffic can wreak havoc on your nerves and compromise your health in the long run. But too little noise can also put you in danger when you can’t hear that Prius whizzing by as you cross the street. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that hybrid electric vehicles, equipped with virtually soundless engines, have a higher incidence rate of pedestrian and cyclist crashes than do conventional cars.

As the market for electric vehicles continues to grow, lawmakers are trying to prevent such accidents by adopting so-called “quiet car rules.” In January 2013, the NHTSA proposed a new minimum sound standard that would mandate alert noises on hybrid and electric vehicles; pending comment from the auto industry, implementation has been delayed until September 2018. Meanwhile, the European Union approved a quiet car rule last year, calling for safety sounds by 2019.