Quiet electric vehicles a safety problem

Gordon Oldfield relies on his guide dog and his ears to cross the road, but quiet electric vehicles make no noise and he wants them all fitted with sound-emitting devices.

He has profound vision impairment and needs his guide dog Ernie to cross the road.

He says the quietness of electric vehicles and hybrids leads to confusion because his dog sees the car and stops.

But Gordon cannot hear the car and is left guessing at why Ernie will not cross.

“The increasing number of electric vehicles is really good for the climate and one of the distinct advantages is it’s a much quieter vehicle. But for those of us who live with profound vision impairment, it does pose a challenge,” Gordon says.

“We rely on our ears. We hear vehicles slowing down, but with electric vehicles it’s a different story.

“It can make you very nervous about crossing roads. I find you have to be very cautious and you can never lower your guard.”

He says there was an understanding among those with vision impairment that all electric vehicles would be fitted with sound-emitting devices, but that has not happened yet.

“I think electric vehicles have grown quicker in the last year or two than anticipated and the safety issue has not caught up with them.”

Gordon is also concerned that if someone with impairment has a near miss with a quiet vehicle, they could lose confidence to go out into the community, which could lead to isolation and loneliness.

Head of Blind Low Vision New Zealand Guide Dog Services, Jessica Nelipovich, lives in the Tasman region and she says the best thing drivers can do to make it safer for vision-impaired people to cross the road is to stop and wait at pedestrian crossings.

“Modern electric vehicles are silent, so for a dog handler crossing the street, there’s no sound. If the dog refuses to cross, the handler doesn’t know why.

“Often drivers slow down for pedestrians and the driver makes eye contact in a non-verbal agreement. But obviously if you can’t see, you can’t enter into a non-verbal agreement and the dog doesn’t know what is happening. I would like to see drivers come to a complete stop to give way to pedestrians crossing the road.”

Blind Low Vision NZ says the low level of noise from hybrid and electric ‘quiet’ vehicles presents a significant safety problem for people who are blind or have low vision.

A spokesperson for the organisation says people who are blind or have low vision rely on sound as an essential aid to independent mobility and safety when crossing roads and negotiating traffic.

Quiet vehicles make that difficult and sometimes impossible.

The organisation wants appropriate noise-making devises in quiet vehicles and its preference is for the alert sound to mimic the noise of a motor vehicle to distinguish it from other sources.