The habit of noise
Yesterday I rode with a friend who has a Honda Civic hybrid. It's a nice car, although she told me that it didn't get as good mileage as the Prius or Insight-- "only" about 43 mpg.
Another friend with us mentioned an article she had read criticizing hybrids as "dangerous" because they make so little noise. People sometimes aren't aware of them and can be taken by surprise.
It's worth pointing out this danger for a number of reasons. Children, elderly people, and animals would be especially vulnerable to not hearing a quiet car. It would be useful for drivers of hybrids to realize this, so that they will not assume people are aware of their car. And of course, anyone who would be a pedestrian or bicyclist would want to be aware that hybrids are quieter than usual also.
But does this make hybrids "dangerous"? Of course not. It simply points out the habit we have (quite naturally) developed, whereby we become aware of a car's presence by using our ears. When that automatic habit is disrupted by a quiet car, we blame the car -- "my habit isn't working!" -- when it is really just a matter of retraining our habits. Perhaps we will have to use our eyes more. This takes a little effort and time, but it can be done.
After all, there was a time when we had to get used to neighborhoods having a lot of car noise. If we can do that, we can get used to quiet neighborhoods too.
Another friend with us mentioned an article she had read criticizing hybrids as "dangerous" because they make so little noise. People sometimes aren't aware of them and can be taken by surprise.
It's worth pointing out this danger for a number of reasons. Children, elderly people, and animals would be especially vulnerable to not hearing a quiet car. It would be useful for drivers of hybrids to realize this, so that they will not assume people are aware of their car. And of course, anyone who would be a pedestrian or bicyclist would want to be aware that hybrids are quieter than usual also.
But does this make hybrids "dangerous"? Of course not. It simply points out the habit we have (quite naturally) developed, whereby we become aware of a car's presence by using our ears. When that automatic habit is disrupted by a quiet car, we blame the car -- "my habit isn't working!" -- when it is really just a matter of retraining our habits. Perhaps we will have to use our eyes more. This takes a little effort and time, but it can be done.
After all, there was a time when we had to get used to neighborhoods having a lot of car noise. If we can do that, we can get used to quiet neighborhoods too.
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