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Hypermiler

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2014
Messages
562
Location
N Yorks, UK
[email protected]

I am quite concerned about how quiet electric vehicles are - I love driving them, but as a parent of small children I worry. I don't so much worry about my own kids as they know that cars can be near-silent, but at the moment, the vast majority of children don't realise and they are still being taught to "stop, look and listen". I have emailed the above address to ask that information for schools is updated in light of the growth in the ev market. I suggested it should be stop, look, listen and LOOK AGAIN. (i.e. adding a "lifesaver look" similar to when overtaking).

I got the email address from this website where I couldn't immediately see any reference to evs:

http://think.direct.gov.uk/education/early-years-and-primary/

I also filled in a "contact us" form at www.rospa.com

Just thought some of you might want to do the same. I'd rather they proactively updated their information for schools before there are any accidents and the ev is blamed...
Thanks
H
 
I can't help thinking that this is overdone - most modern small cars are pretty quiet moving at slow to medium speeds. OK - the Outlander may be quieter than most of the others, but a new small conventional car at 20mph is not going to grab the attention.
 
maby said:
I can't help thinking that this is overdone - most modern small cars are pretty quiet moving at slow to medium speeds. OK - the Outlander may be quieter than most of the others, but a new small conventional car at 20mph is not going to grab the attention.

Completely agree, I frequently cycle to work and sometimes have checked out some silent car, thinking it must be an EV and found it wasn't even an hybrid. Some rear engine buses also are as good as silent when you are ahead of them, which is when it matters !

But I agree that extra attention needs to be given to children when driving, I always watch for them to do something unexpected, although it's not happened so far with this or previous cars.
 
Fair enough - I would't argue with that, but I have had some comments about my car both from parents and from cyclists and I think that with the rise of very quiet cars (conventional or ev) that children should be taught to look even more carefully as it seems that most people rely a lot on listening.
H
 
dukeinlondon said:
maby said:
I can't help thinking that this is overdone - most modern small cars are pretty quiet moving at slow to medium speeds. OK - the Outlander may be quieter than most of the others, but a new small conventional car at 20mph is not going to grab the attention.

Completely agree, I frequently cycle to work and sometimes have checked out some silent car, thinking it must be an EV and found it wasn't even an hybrid. Some rear engine buses also are as good as silent when you are ahead of them, which is when it matters !

But I agree that extra attention needs to be given to children when driving, I always watch for them to do something unexpected, although it's not happened so far with this or previous cars.

And I agree with you on this last point. There are a lot of drivers around who just don't seem to recognise the need to keep their speed down in residential areas - when I learned to drive I was taught that on a residential street with cars parked down either side you should limit your speed to 20mph or less even if the legal speed limit was higher. I'm always conscious of the risk of children - or pets - running out between cars - I would not want to kill someone's cat, let alone their child!
 
As a motorbike rider, with a loud exhaust (Ducati Diavel) the biggest problem is not quiet or silent cars, but pedestrians with earphones/plugs in and all while looking down at their phone. The number of times people just step out without looking while on their phone is becoming more common. This is one reason I will be fitting a dash cam. I do have a helmet cam but I don't always set it up, but once when I did the footage from it was invaluable in exonerating a fellow biker from all blame when he hit a pedestrian that stepped out without looking and wearing headphones!
 
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