Ask your MEP to back Guide Dogs' Safe and Sound Campaign

Guide Dogs is asking our supporters to get behind our campaign on quiet vehicles by writing to their Member of European Parliament (MEP).

Quiet electric and hybrid vehicles pose a significant danger to blind and partially sighted people and other vulnerable road users. Pedestrians find it hard to hear the vehicles, making it more difficult for them to judge when it’s safe to cross the road.

We want quiet electric and hybrid cars to be easily heard at all times, to make our roads safer for everyone, especially people with sight loss. We are calling for these vehicles to be fitted with an artificial noise so they can be heard at a safe distance.

Later this month, a committee in the European Parliament will vote on a regulation for sound levels in electric vehicles. Current proposals would allow manufacturers to install an audible alert system (AVAS), but only on a voluntary basis. Drivers can also switch off this system when they are driving, which reduces protection for pedestrians and road users.

Guide Dogs is calling on MEPs to ensure the regulation includes:

• A minimum noise level for all vehicles so they can be heard at all times.
• Mandatory installation of an audible alert system in quiet hybrid and electric vehicles by car manufacturers.

Write to your MEP and support Guide Dogs’ Safe and Sound campaign.  

For more on Guide Dogs’ campaigns visit www.guidedogs.org.uk/campaigns