Japan considers adding noise to hybrid cars
Eco motors too quiet
3 July 2009 10:15 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott
It's been talked up before, but the transport ministry in Japan is currently seriously considering forcing car manufacturers of near-silent hybrid vehicles to add sound to their motors.
"We have received opinions from automobile users and visually-impaired people that they feel hybrid vehicles are dangerous", a transport ministry official told the AP.
"Blind people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed".
A panel of experts including the police and groups representing the visually-impaired have met to discuss the matter and, after the first meeting, decided that a "sound-making function" should be introduced.
This would mean hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius, would be manufactured to create noise when in electric mode.
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