Electric Vehicles Could Remain Silent at Low Speeds
Is Silence the Best Policy?
At the beginning of the year, the Trump administration revoked an Obama-era regulation that required electric cars to make sound a low speeds to avoid scaring pedestrians. Now, agencies are required to cut costs associated with enforcement of these types of regulations. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has a list of six areas for deregulation, including standards for rearview mirrors and backup cameras in passenger cars, an electronic-stability-control mandate for heavy trucks, and a rule allowing car dealers to install switches to deactivate airbags in customer vehicles.
It’s not clear whether these rules will be entirely repealed or just altered, but automakers argue that some standards are outdated and hamper the introduction of new technologies. As of right now, manufactures of hybrids and EVs have until September 1, 2019, to add add noise to their cars when driving under 20 mph. According to the NHTSA, this regulation could prevent 2,400 pedestrians from being injured every year.
