Effective today Monday, 1st of July 2019, all new models of electric cars in the European Union must be installed with noise-emitting devices for the safety of pedestrians.
The issue is that electric cars or low emission vehicles are too quiet and most pedestrians will not hear them as they approach thereby putting the pedestrians at the risk of being hit, according to a BBC report
Acoustic Vehicle Alert Systems (aka, AVAS) will need to be installed in new electric cars from today and all existing models by July 2021. With the AVAS installed, vehicles need to make a sound while traveling under 12 mph, or while reversing.
Electric vehicles are quieter than the regular fuel-powered counterparts hence the absence of noise poses a danger to road users especially people who are blind or partially sighted.
The EU isn’t the only regulator that’s introducing fake noise rules around electric vehicles. In the US, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will require that all hybrid and electric vehicles emit artificial noise by September 2020, although they’ll have to emit the sounds up to the slightly faster speed of 18.6 mph.
