Motorist news
08/12/2010
Car insurance for the electric car may not be greatest concern
Many people have been thinking about the costs involved with owning an electric car in the future, such as how much the car insurance will cost and who will sell the cheapest car insurance for these green cars, for example.
But another concern connected with the use of electric cars has emerged.
The Guide Dogs charity has raised fears that because electric cars are so quiet, they will pose a threat to partially sighted and blind people when they want to cross a road.
Although crossing at traffic lights should be as safe as ever, crossing at places on the road which do not have any designated crossing area with flashing lights for the drivers or audible safe-to-cross beeping sounds for pedestrians may become more dangerous.
Carol Thomas, the Guide Dogs' Access and Inclusion Manager, said that when blind people are crossing a road in an undesignated place, "The sound of oncoming traffic, or absence of this sound, is used to assess when it is safe to cross the road."
However, the charity adds that although it has concerns for those individuals who use their hearing to help keep themselves safe around traffic, the great benefits which the electric car has to offer the environment are fully appreciated.
The Transport Research Laboratory is due to release its findings into pedestrian accidents caused by quiet vehicles soon. The hope is that the largest worry for drivers will return to being the cost of car insurance for electric vehicles.