Back in May, PetrolPrices told you the European Union had put in place legislation that meant, from next year, all new electric cars must come with noise generators, which emit sounds when the car is travelling at low speeds.
Now, nine months before the new law takes effect, Jaguar has revealed the sound their I-PACE model will make—and the noise may surprise you. One thing is for certain, not everybody will like it.
Protecting the vulnerable
When electric vehicles (EVs) were first introduced, one of their selling points was that they were silent. Living in an ever noisy world, people welcomed fewer combustion engines not only polluting our air and planet but also our ears.
What EV designers didn’t expect was any downside of vehicles that make little to no sound, but the problem is that people can’t hear them coming—an even bigger issue for vulnerable people such as those with sight impairment.
People with impaired sight make up two million children and adults in the UK—no small number—and, while organisations such as the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association are in favour of environmentally friendly vehicles, they also feel further measures are necessary to protect pedestrians.
Research carried out by the charity, Guide Dogs found:
Pedestrians are 40% more liable to get run over by a quiet hybrid or electric car than by petrol or diesel cars.
Between 2012 and 2013 there has been a 54% rise in pedestrian injuries in accidents involving quiet cars.
In some environments, a person may only hear a quiet vehicle just a few seconds before impact.
76% of people polled said quiet vehicles make the roads less safe for pedestrians with sight loss.
78% said these cars make roads less safe for older people and 75% said quiet vehicles make roads less safe for children.
From July 2019, manufacturers must fit sound generators to new electric and hybrid models so that the vehicles make a noise when they are travelling at low speeds. All existing quiet electric and hybrid vehicles must be retrofitted with this technology by 2021.
Yet the Guide Dogs charity says before that happens, there will be thousands more silent, electric and hybrid cars added to the current 45,000 plus electric vehicles already on Britain’s roads. This, they say, puts huge numbers of vulnerable road users at risk.
Has Jaguar got it right?
Nine months before the new law takes effect, Jaguar has released the sound their Audible Vehicle Alert System (AVAS) will make in their I-PACE model—the manufacturer’s first electric vehicle.
It took their engineers four years to produce a sound that is audible yet discreet and one the driver can‘t hear from inside the car. Jaguar first wanted to use a sci-fi spacecraft sound, but when tested, pedestrians would look up at the sky, not towards the approaching vehicle.
The finished sound is audible at speeds up to 12mph and comes from a speaker behind the front grille. The noise is audible from any direction and increases in pitch and volume as the car accelerates. When the car reverses, an additional tone registers the shift in direction.
AVAS isn’t necessary when vehicles travel at higher speeds when enough wind and tyre noise enables pedestrians to detect the car coming, so the car only activates the warning sound at slower speeds and isn’t, it may please you to know, constant.
Click the video below to listen to the AVAS in the new Jaguar I-PACE.
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Jaguar’s Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) technical specialist, Iain Suffield said:
“We developed the Audible Vehicle Alert System for the I-PACE to ensure the safety of all road users. Our potentially life-saving technology cannot be switched off and as the leading charity for people with sight loss, we are pleased to have the support of Guide Dogs to ensure real people are at the heart of our product testing.
“The absence of traditional engine noise from electric vehicles creates a problem for vulnerable pedestrians, such as the blind or visually impaired. This is especially true at low speeds in town centres and car parks.”
Libby Clegg, Paralympian, who twice has almost collided with quiet vehicles, said:
“As a guide dog owner, I rely on being able to hear cars to judge when it’s safe to cross the road. It’s terrifying to cross when you’re unable to hear quiet hybrid and electric vehicles. Ensuring all quiet vehicles have sound generating systems installed and switched on would ensure that millions of people, like me, who are living with sight loss, would be protected from the growing safety hazard.”
Both hybrid and EV vehicles already exist with warning sounds, which either the driver operates or ones that activate at low speeds. The sounds produced range from artificial beeps and chimes to those that mimic engine sounds or tyres moving over gravel.
Noise pollution
Many anti-noise and electric car advocates have fought against vehicles having artificial noise generators as a signal for pedestrians, as they claim these will just further add to noise pollution.
René Weinandy, Head of Noise Abatement in Transport for the German Environment Agency, argued that laws to fit electric vehicles with AVAS were being implemented without adequate scientific proof of their effectiveness or enough consideration of the negative side effects. Weinandy says manufacturers haven’t explored less harmful alternatives and that better options must be available.
Then there are those who say many luxury cars with internal combustion engines (ICE) are already quieter than some hybrids. If so, maybe the safety of pedestrians isn’t a problem with EVs, but with quiet cars?
What’s your opinion on the sound of Jaguar’s I-PACE? What sound do you think is best for EVs and hybrids? Do you support the use of noise-generators in these cars? Tell us in the comments.
I find the AVAS sound quite annoying and too high pitched. It is worrying to think that,in the future, there may be myriad cars with similar systems creating a cacophony of whining noises.
Slow moving traffic will be a discordant cacophany.
Yes quite annoying. I wouldn’t want one. Why can’t they make it sound a normal petrol ICE? Everyone is used to that sound.
Agreed..there needs to be continuity as I’ve already stated!
What a horrible noise I dread to think what it will be like as more and more electric cars are forced onto us if they are all making this noise. I agree however that something must be done to give some warning as I nearly got Knocked down by my neighbors hybrid as she was reversing down our narrow cul de sac purely because i couldn’t. I hear her and I was in her blind spot as she was looking over her left shoulder and didn’t see me anyway. I have good hearing!!
Join the discussion…Not sure what you are saying Barry?
Don’t walk behind a car reversing.
If pedestrians didn’t have music blasting into earphones they would be more aware of what is around them and much safer. When and accident is caused by listening to distracting noise they should be charged in same way as drivers distracted by using mobile phones.
I’m not sight impaired or wear ear phones and a Tesla snuck up on me very easily as I was crossing into a pedestrian zone on our high street. But I don’t like the sound of that jaguar. Some people are sight impaired and have hearing loss and don’t have the benefit of a guide dog. They should make it sound a bit more meaty like a super car!! 😁
If you were looking both ways…. what is the problem? Doesn’t matter whether you can hear anything or not you should be LOOKING. I own a performance car which is by no means quiet to begin with and the amount of times I encounter people crossing without even looking annoys the hell out of me…. and yet if I ran them over it’d be my fault? Hmm yeah… The only exception to this is people with sight loss as the article states, which does, to be fair, need addressing.
We have a crossing in our village, to your left is the blind brow of a railway bridge and to the right is a left hand curve so you can’t see any cars coming!!! It’s not a problem if everybody stuck to the 30Mph speed limit then there is time to cross, which is why the crossing is allowed to be there but they DON’T!!! We regularly clock cars at 50Mph plus****&%$£$*tards that don’t think or care, even lorries speed. So NO— LOOKING is not always an option. Sometimes when we have to carry stuff across the road someone has to dash across to the other side so they can see round the bent and signal the all clear.
And yes I do agree that lots of pestrians (not a typo!) don’t look, or step out into the road while staring at their phones!!!
I have to drive in London from time to time and I hate it.
As for the noise- really annoying through the computer speakers but I’d want to hear it in real life before deciding for sure, if it is not too loud, travels a reasonable distance from the car without penetrating windows and buildings then maybe it will be ok, but I think we need some real world experience and then harmonisation across all countries and manufacturers before we end up with a cacophony! All ICE engines sound similar, so should all electric and hybrids.
This sound will be absolutely no use in situations like you describe as it only works to 12mph! If EVs are doing 30 they will be near silent!
There are circumstances where the view from one side or the other is obscured for even a sighted person and there is no other place you can safely cross the road and it DOES matter. We are not all dummies, It annoys the hell out of me when drivers with their music blaring drive past with no regard to pedestrians. I was hit once in the hand as I walked home by a driver’s passenger side mirror, and I could see two girls screaming and geturing at each other as they drove by and off into the sunset, never seeing me. Luckily I only had a bad bruise. I wasn’t even trying to cross and was well outside the white line marking the car lane.
Car drivers also ignore bicycles and motorcycles like we are not there and get irritated and angry when they hit us and blame us when they break the rules.
‘Performance car’ owners are usually the ones who think they have the right to break the rules.
The incidents you describe are down to poor driving, not lack of technology. I am a car driver, motorcyclist, and disabled pedestrian. Locally there is a large cycling club and some of them can be pretty ignorant to other road users, pedestrians seem to think they can’t be hurt – I had one on the motorcycle walk out in front of me, on a wet road, leaving me 20ft to stop from 30mph. I braked hard but slid past him at walking speed, he then berated me for driving like a maniac!
And then there’s the car drivers on their phones, not paying attention, playing loud music or just incompetent. All need retraining, not wrapping in cotton wool.
More cotton wool protection. against real life. Most of the possible accidents I see are people wearing headphones or on their phones, oblivious to the fact they’ve reached a road, schoolkids that think they’re invulnerable walking in a mob stepping in/out of the road without looking. Hearing impaired would not hear this anyway, they demonstrate it with guide dogs, who would not let their humans cross in front of a moving car anyway. I’m disabled myself, and have trouble getting across the road while the lights stay red, so I take extra care.
Hybrid and electric cars have been around for some time, so have bicycles and horses, what have people done all these years? Are there actual statistics to show partially sighted people are at risk, or is the the pc brigade that want everyone completely safe from cradle to grave? To quote Nietzsche, “whatever doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger” – and we learn from it! Overprotecting everybody leads to people whoi can’t cope when life gives them a knock.
In response to Ian Titler’s comment regarding the hearing impaired. I can confirm that he is wrong. My own hearing loss is in the severe to profound range and yet I could hear the sound through my laptop un aided. I’m sure that JLR will have worked with audiologists in developing this system in order to achieve the most appropriate audible frequencies. I wish they make something similar bikes.
Yes and it annoys the hell out of me that however many times children are told to look both ways some of them continue not to do so when the ice cream van is parked on the opposite side of the road.
Unfortunately, its not just about what we should be doing; we have to accept that in the real world of motoring, not everybody, whether in or out of a vehicle, does what they ought to be doing, and thus we have to drive accordingly.
Visual impairment is not the only issue that can affect pedestrian road users: numerous medical conditions – I live with one myself – or mental health conditions, many of which are invisible, can cause a potential difficulties with concentration or an awareness of surroundings. Age causes problems of its own and poor ability to concentrate or a diminished sense of danger could well be the result in some circumstances.
However, there are people who stick Sensory Deprivation Machines in their ears and walk (and sometimes cycle) about public roadways on autopilot, listening to music or engrossed in conversation, with little or no idea of what’s going on around them……………
It’s a little like the concept of light and thunder , you can see the lightning (electric powered cars) but can hear the thunder ( petrol engines). It’s hard to judge the speed of oncoming electric vs petroleum cars.
Right because people who can hear correctly and aren’t either sight impaired or listening to music in headphones, are easily able to hear a silent, slow moving EV car?
This isn’t about people wearing headphones and not being able to hear, its about silent running and potential dangerous EV cars that are more difficult to notice than traditional combustion engine cars when moving at low speeds even if you are not hearing impaired or wearing headphones. Placing the blame on headphone users as pedestrians is unfair when this is about silent running low speed EV vehicles- not your opinion on people wearing headphones whilst being a pedestrian.
Silent running, low speed moving EV cars effects people without headphones and perfectly fine hearing, did you ignore the video where Jaguar are promoting the tech based off sight impaired pedestrians.
What about an Autistic person who is overwhelmed by the noise of the modern world and has to wear headphones in crowded situations to be able to cope with sensory overload? Are you going to charge people for coping with their disability?
Sounds like a milk float…
If only it did! The sound of a milk float was not unpleasant like that is and, as it was really the sound of the transmission, rose in pitch with increasing speed so, if one was behind you, not only could you hear it but you would also know when its speed was increasing.
I’m with you, Terry. I loved the sound of milk floats.
…and add the sound of bottles rattling in their crates!
Aww, yeah. That brought back some memories. And the whistling milkman.
The bottle rattle could be proportional to the potholes 🙂
You could also hear the rattling of the bottles, and the tyres on the road. People do need to look. Both drivers and pedestrians. Drivers aren’t supposed to mow down walkers. As a driver, I give pedestrians priority, but if they look nimble I don’t slow down all that much, and I’m ready to slam on the anchors if something happens.
This is bad enough with one car. If there were lots of them it would be unbearable, and I’m not autistic with hyper sensitivity to sound.
I am reminded of the story concerning a Rolls-Royce which bumped into a pedestrian who had stepped out in front of it. The RR owner helped the pedestrian back to his feet, and the pedestrian apologised and said that he hadn’t heard the car coming. The Rolls-Royce owner replied that you weren’t supposed to hear the car!
I think it sounds awful. Definitely not appealing in any way
It’s not supposed to be ‘appealing’ – it’s a warning noise, intended to get people’s attention, without alarming them.
That’s really annoying n actually hurt my ears, and startled my dogs
My dog started prowling around the room searching for the noise.
I wonder if there are some other frequencies we can’t hear but they can. The assistance dogs in the video didn’t look happy.
I think all electric cars should sound like my Ducati Monster motorbike without baffles.
No.! The next thing we need to do is quieten down overly noise vehicles, motorbikes being an obvious starting point, along with those boy racer type cars with ridiculous loud exhausts and explosion noises.
Or the idiot I saw speeding downhill in first gear as fast as he could go. When he stopped, I asked him why he did it and he replied that he just liked the noise.
I’d be disappointed when I looked round though!
For the occupants’ safety a deer whistle should be installed.
For the car manufacturer they will be really cheap in bulk.
I going to have the sound of a throaty V8 coming out of mine
The noise sounds like sci fi movie and without looking the source, it feels like an alien vehicle approaching. A bit scary! A better design is definitely needed.
Yes there definitely should be some type of noise for new EV and hybrid cars, since I have been concerned for sometime now for all the many partially sighted people. When you loose one of your senses, like sight, the others become stronger especially hearing and smell for the partially sighted or blind. I’m not sure about the Jaguar sound as it sounds rather like a war siren! It would be beneficial if there was continuity of sound in the future for all cars. Everyone knows the sound of a car today, so why change it? Just have the sound/volume made quieter!
That’s an idea – make cars emit a smell as they approach ….
Yes there definitely should be a sound for ALL EV and hybrid cars. I have been advocating this for ages in support of partially sighted and the elderly, who rely heavily on their other senses especially hearing and smell in the case of the blind. Also there must be some continuity of sound for all vehicles to avoid confusion. As now, everyone is familiar with the sound of a car engine…so why change? But just make the sound volume/quieter? So I am not so sure about the Jaguar sound…it’s a bit like a war siren!
What a terrible sound ! Surely it would be better to have a low level sound similar to an engine !
The early adopters of EVs etc. tend to be rather (piously? Priusly?) proud of their cars, so making them sound as if they have an IC is going to put them off I think.
Talk to someone who cares… 😉
Sounds like an air raid siren, if that’s the sound we will hear down the high street on. 50-100 cars I genuinely think we will all end up in a mental institute very soon.
I was going to say exactly the same thing. Will have the older generation running for the air raid shelters!
I don’t have anything against blind or partially sighted people but I’d like to know how they cope with all the push bikes that they could also potentially collide with, particularly those that ride on the pavement. There’s no law stipulating they have to have noise generators, but most sensible riders just ring a bell or shout a warning. Car drivers should be responsible for being equally aware and sound a horn or something, quiet car or not. It shouldn’t mean car producers have to add more pollutant devices to vehicles (noise pollution, I mean).
Seriously, that’s the best they could come up with? Awful – no wonder the dog looks confused.
I don’t think the dogs were confused. They looked interested in the new sound, as might be expected.
Sounds like a air raid siren. Can imagine 20 cars on the road at one time all making that noise together 😠
Once you know what it is you can live with it, I wouldn’t like to be in a busy road with all those cars making that noise though.
The sound needs to be the same type of sound for all cars as it its then identifiable as a moving vehicle.If EV cars emit different kind of sound, as apparently proposed by Jaguar, it will be some time before those with sight loss will be able correctly to identify the sound as coming from a moving vehicle (and not, perhaps from some loud speaker or other noisy object in the environment). Emitting a sound it not enough. It must be a sound with an immediately recognisable meaning)
That will be fun. The US and Japan will agree a standard and then the EU will insist it must be different… This has to be a story for April 1. Should Buses, Lories and other large vehicles have a louder noise than cars and vans? If vehicles have to have a sound will it apply to electric motorbikes? If so surely it must apply to pedal cycles as well? Surely Eyesight challenged and elderly people need protecting from push-chairs and other vehicles operating on the pavement. This needs to be thought through by consumers not boffins in JLR in Bombay or some Bureaucrats in Washington or Brussels.
And the UK will “take back control” and insist on all vehicles playing “Rule Britannia”, as we’re not going to be rule-takers.
The thought occurred to me that different manufacturers will want their own distinctive sounds anyway, so that people can react in an awstruck manner when they hear an electric Bentley pass them, but then turn up their noses at the electric Fiat following it. Porsche will insist upon an emulator that sounds like a flat-six petrol engine, for instance. Lamborghini will have one that plays at 120dB and sounds like a mad-revving V12. Volkswagen and Skoda will want ones to remind people of the original Beetle and Estelle. The possibilities are endless. There will be aftermarket sounds for boy racers, I’m sure – no need for a fat exhaust pipe, just plug and play.
For safety sake some sound is required, but not Jaguar’s dystopian drone. There needs to be a multidisciplinary approach including musicians and social scientists as well as pedestrians with restricted sight. Good point about fine for people who carelessly walk into road on mobile or wearing headphones. It’s a very busy environment from all perspectives and drivers AND pedestrians, and cyclists need to cooperate.
It hurt my ears. I really don’t see why the occupants of the car should hear nothing. Make it sound like a car!
Ye Gods!! What a terrible racket. Just imagine walking past a queue of traffic all making that noise along with vehicles coming in the opposite direction. Why not make it sound like their petrol engines?
Just make them sound as normal vehicles and stop all the time on money wasted in finding another noise just so their car sounds different to other makes just another gimmick enough gimmicks on cars already too many in fact usually distracting ones
By which logic the first ICE cars should have mimicked horse drawn carriages!
I drive a Renault Zoe which has a noise generator. People still step out but people step out in front of cars, lorries and buses without thinking anyway. A noise generator is a sensible thing to have like bicycles have bells. Perhaps we should change our car horns to generate a polite bicycle bell noise to warn of our approach?
I agree with the need to have some sound emitting device from electric cars, but the jaguar one seems far more intrusive than a normal car. It seems to be too high pitched.
What’s wrong with a simple white noise generator or better still a pink noise generator?
It sounds very much like airflow and pink noise is supposed to help you sleep better so people living on a busy road would have no problems at night?
I don’t like the Jaguar noise it sounds menacing.
Every manufacturer should have the same sound. The hard of hearing are also vulnerable as they also do not hear all the tones and the brain has learnt sounds so they can take appropriate when they hear what they hear, When you hear a noise the brain needs to interpret each sound, and with a new sound like this one the Jag is making the Hard of Hearing also have to stand back and wait to understand the noise. So one sound for all quite cars and I would suggest an engine sound please and as for the going over gravel sound when you are in a city will not add up as the impaired amongst us will know they are not walking in gravel, cos believe it or not we are even more aware of our surroundings than those that that have no impairments.
Actually, it should be technically possible to generate an emission that is picked up by hearing aids, similar to the way we use the T setting in shops equipped with hearing aid sound loops.
That noise is painful. I can see me having to wear ear defenders when walking in the street.
Might that be counter-productive?
What a dreadful noise! No doubt a committee was involved.
Let the vulnerable people be supplied with wrist band or a similar device, it is ridiculous to have all these vehicles making a noise, the sound of all of these vehicles together would drive anybody mad.
I would quite like the sound of bubbles bursting. Lots of cars would sound like fizzing, which I think most heading could tolerate.
We are only too ready to jump in and change to new technology without careful thought all round
What a horrible noise. Like something from Dr Who. Surely a normal engine noise is more acceptable and easier on the ears. Just imagine half a dozen of these in convoy down your high street.
A truly dreadful noise which had a disturbing effect on my ears. I dread to imagine what a large number of vehicles fitted with this system would sound like in a small area. Enough to drive one bonkers I imagine. Come on Jaguar, your boffins can do better than that! What’s wrong with a conventional petrol/diesel engine sound? I would think this “flying saucer” sound must be very disconcerting for the poor guide dogs.
I almost got run over by an electric car on a bend in the road where the view of oncoming cars from the right was obscured by shrubbery, we (me and two greyhounds) looked both ways, didn’t hear anything and started to cross and an electric car came and miseed us by inches. A blind person with a guide dog would have no chance at all… All I could hear was the low noise of the tires on a bit of gravel. he was doing at least 50 mph in a 30 mile zone. 12 mph noise cut off is WAY too low.
If he was doing 50mph in a 30mph zone, there’s your problem. Must have been full electric as a hybrid would be on the petrol engin at that speed. Did you report the driver for speeding?
So, you can’t really go any distance in one, charging points are like hens teeth, Government subsidies have been cut, and now we have to listen to that bloody awful whining.
Somehow the Government don’t seem to be selling this electric car idea, do they.
My own preference would simply be an engine noise recording which increased in pitch as the car accellerated. I don’t like what looks a lot like the marketing department getting involved in making a unique sound. I also wonder what the cut-off speed is for the noise generator; I hope it’s about 70Km/H – 44MPH+ to cover all speeds in built up areas.
Well, why cant they use the sound of a moped, not too noisy.
When I was a lad, I remember riding a moped called a Puch Maxi that had a centrifugal clutch and one gear that took you up to 30mph.
I don’t think that would be too offensive as it was relatively quiet as a vehicle. Not a growling superbike/car, granted, and a little more noisy than the old milk float transmission sound.
If the car manufacturers were so precious about what their vehicles sounded like, then they would already have found ways to minimise the noise anyway!! Perhaps they could have a rule on Db sound and pitch (both min and max). I have read other comments and agree the last thing we want to be hearing out in the street is something that sounds like an orchestra warming up their instruments.
to high pitched for me cars tend to growl not whine ,people with hearing loss might not hear that pitch and it reminds me of the hand driers in toilets that lots of children are afraid of.
Seems that the appropriate solution is not for the car to broadcast audio, but transmit a wireless signal that a can be picked up by a simple receiver by the at risk person. This works for both sight and hearing impaired. Lots of options for alerting to speed, time to arrival, direction it’s coming from, Technology is available right now, so it should be really low cost. And of course the sound the Jag makes is completely inaudible to the obliviouts wandering or riding along with their noise cancelling ear or headphones on!
They use this to brainwash!
The sound developed here is awful the tone it makes is very annoying, could they not use the sound of a car engine. The sound of an engine is known all over the world and is not ambiguous. Why invent a new sound that people will have to learn. Does each manufacturer have their own unique sound, I really hope not?
Not the right sound needs more work done on it, as I think they will.
Imagine the noise from a line of electric cars at a traffic light booming out that noise.
Sounds too much like an air-raid siren, far too high-pitched, jarring , and unpleasant. Surely a more attractive sound, perhaps a gentle chime, would help or a sound like an existing car engine at low revs. But must be low pitched.
I like the idea as an electric car at low speeds Is difficult to detect at normal hearing levels but I would suggest 20mph is more realistic
Sounds ok to me.
Jaguar’s AVAS is not the solution as noted in other comments.
Children some years ago used to put a piece of card in the wheel’s fork which clicked against the spokes. A clicking noise increasing in frequency depending on speed would seem a better solution.
Yes. I remember doing that. It was very exciting, as an 8 year old ( I think). Bu good idea.
Makes sense to have a sound, why not duplicate actual sound of one of there cars instead of creating this awful noise !
Imagine cars coming from either direction emoting that sound.
It may be alright on a lone vehicle.
Surly the answer lies in increasing the quality of the driver to be aware of pedestrians.
Cars have had since the early days and nowadays you don’t have to lean out to squeeze the rubber bulb.
It’s called an electric HORN!
If I’m coming up to pedestrians that look likely to step in front of my hybrid I give a short warning toot on the horn to say I’m here.
I don’t give a long blast as that simply annoys pedestrians.
Surly it’s about time we all drivers and pedestrians take responsibility for our own actions!
It’s all well and good to say drivers should be more aware, but that’s never going to happen. It’s like saying they shouldn’t speed. This is about making the car intrinsically safe. If you don’t see a pedestrian (blind bend, brow of a hill) they can at least not walk out or be aware of you too.
Good to have a sound but why not use the actual sound of a petrol engine instead of this awful noise
The best sound would be the growl of a V8.
annoying but some sound is better than no sound.
I am not opposed to noise generators for safety reasons I would however suggest that ALL VEHICLES MAKE THE SAME SOUND REGARDLESS of make or model this will assist disabled and guide dogs distinguish between a vehicle and other noises. I also noted the comments on the rise of pedestrian v vehicle accidents.
As I drive about I believe the reasons for this fall’s into two groups.
First
lack of education, do they still teach the correct way to cross the road and cycling proficiency at primary school level. I don’t think so as I realise that should anyone below 25 years old be at the side of the road extra vigilance is required when driving as today’s children and younger parents seem to have a total lack of spatial awareness and judging speeds. Also how many people have been mown down on the pavement by couldn’t care less cyclists. The time is now right for these to be taxed and insured for those who say this can’t be done should visit the channel Islands I have personally seen that every cycle there has a rear number plate and this is going back to pre 1965 when I first saw it.
Secondly
Modern technology
I am sure that many drivers can relate to this, how many drivers have had pedestrians stroll out in front of their vehicle, the pedestrian is completely oblivious to the fact that they have just stepped onto a road in front of a car doing 30 mph because they are to engrossed in talking on their mobile.
On one occasion when this happened to me I had to do an emergency stop only halting less than a metre from her even at this point she was still completely oblivious as to what had happened, I then sounded my horn to attract her attention it was only at this point, after nearly having a heart attack and beating the Olympic world high jump record in one go, was she aware of what she had done. The really annoying part for me was that a pelican crossing was less than 75 metres away. I know that drivers are equally as irresponsible by using mobile phones drug & drink driving etc. I hold them to blame just as easily.
Remember safety both personal and that of others is a thing that requires the common sense of both sides.
Accidents are a rare thing after you leave out greed, stupidity, larking about, not being qualified for your task, bad design, and poor maintenance.