Guide Dogs urges Government not to ignore a silent risk

Guide Dogs has serious concerns over the silent risk of hybrid and electric vehicles and we have led on the issue in recent years. So we are worried by recent suggestions that research into the dangers they pose to blind and partially sighted people will conclude that there is no need for artificial warning noises. This is contrary to the opinion of many other countries around the world, including the United States, and we urge the Government to reject this conclusion.

It was Guide Dogs who called upon the Department for Transport (DfT) for research into electric vehicles. Last year, the DfT tasked the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to study accidents between pedestrians and quiet vehicles, as initial data indicated an increase over a three year period, and to study blind and partially sighted people's detection of quiet vehicles. The report is due out soon.

Guide Dogs Campaigns and Policy Manager David Cowdrey explains: "We recognise the environmental benefits of electric and hybrid vehicles - however they are virtually silent and blind and partially sighted people rely on vehicle sound to assist with their mobility and orientation.

"This is particularly important when crossing roads, especially when there are no controlled pedestrian crossings. The sound of oncoming traffic, or absence of this sound, is used to assess when it is safe to cross the road. It is also helpful to blind or partially sighted people to know when vehicles are waiting at traffic lights. If a hybrid vehicle is stationary at a pedestrian crossing, it may not be heard but may be about to move."

Electric and hybrid vehicles need a recognisable sound, discernable whether in an urban or rural setting, to indicate their location, direction and distance from the listener, speed and rate of acceleration or deceleration.

Guide Dogs has produced a Position Statement on quiet electric and hybrid vehicles. Read the full position statement on quiet electric and hybrid vehicles

For further information, please contact Annabel Williams, Communications Officer, on 0118 983 0183.