Silent but deadly – are electric vehicles a menace?

Cease, look and listen – it’s a familiar road safety message.

But what if you can not hear a vehicle approaching? What if the auto is an electric or hybrid automobile that makes nearly no sound?

The quantity of electric and hybrid cars on our roads is rising: sales were up almost 4fold in 2014 to 14,498, according to the Society of Motor Producers and Traders.

We’ve all been encouraged to go green by plug-in grants towards the acquire cost of vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and the Toyota Prius.

And if your automobile has zero emissions, you will spend zero vehicle excise duty.

Safety implications

But campaigners are concerned about the security implications of silent but potentially deadly automobiles.

And no wonder. Electric and hybrid cars are 40% more most likely to be involved in an accident, and incidents involving quiet automobiles increased by 54% from 2012-2013.

Quiet vehicles are a possible threat to all pedestrians, but blind and partially sighted folks are especially vulnerable.

Sound is also key for the safety of cyclists, horse riders and road upkeep crews.

Near misses

Paralympian Libby Clegg has had 2 near misses with quiet automobiles. She says: “As a guide dog owner I rely on being in a position to hear vehicles to judge when it is secure to cross the road.

“It’s terrifying to cross when you are unable to hear quiet hybrid and electric autos.”

Soundless automobiles can’;t only lead to physical harm, but they can also shatter confidence.

Jennifer Keen, the Guide Dogs’ charity’s spokeswoman, says: “It’s not just about accidents, it is about perceptions and about close to misses. So, if somebody loses their sight they will frequently lose a lot of their confidence to go out by themselves.”

Sound levels

The average street in the UK produces sound at about 70 decibels, but a quiet car generates in between 30 and 50 decibels.

In other words, it is difficult to hear an electric automobile above the standard hustle and bustle of the street.

Studies by the University of California recommend that some electric and hybrid cars can not be heard until 1 second prior to impact with a pedestrian, enabling no time to react to possible danger.

Crossing pedestrians

Audibility is especially crucial at low speeds when vehicles usually closer to pedestrians, for example manoeuvring in a vehicle park or close to a crossing in a city centre.

The danger is confirmed by investigation conducted by the Warwick Manufacturing Group as portion of the Electric Automobiles with Sounds project (ELVES).

It found that “during certain low-speed manoeuvres, an electric vehicle is far more than twice as probably to be involved in an incident with a pedestrian than a vehicle powered by a standard gasoline or diesel engine”.

AVAS, me hearties

Final year, the European Parliament voted to introduce mandatory acoustic car alerting systems (AVAS), which mimic the sound of a conventional engine.

All new electric and hybrid cars need to be fitted with an AVAS by 2021 to defend vulnerable road customers.

The legislation follows lobbying from British MEPs and campaign groups including Guide Dogs. But does it go far adequate?

Out of sight

Keen says: “We’re delighted the European Union has recognised the issues quiet vehicles trigger for pedestrians who cannot hear them coming, but the regulation does not go nearly far enough.

“New quiet cars will not have to be fitted with an artificial sound generator until 2021. This is also late to safeguard blind and partially sighted pedestrians.

“The other key problem with the regulation is that the artificial sound generator will be fitted with a pause switch, enabling the driver to turn it off as they pick.

“This will make it void as a safety function.”

Pause press

Guide Dogs desires the government to make the pause switch illegal on UK roads.

It is also calling for artificial sound generators to be a precondition of state subsidies to the electric and hybrid car market.

In the meantime, we will all have to stop, look and listen really hard when we are crossing the road.

You can support the Guide Dogs’ Secure and Sound campaign by going to the site www.guidedogs.org.uk.

Silent but deadly – are electric vehicles a menace?

Tackling ‘hidden’ menace of drug-driving

Combatting drug driving has come a step closer with the unveiling of a mobile drug testing device at final week’s Roads Policing Conference.

Drink driving has grow to be socially unacceptable, with the quantity of arrests and accidents falling in recent years. But the authorities are increasingly concerned that wider drug use in society as a complete is leading to higher incidences of drug driving.

New penalties for drug driving – which contains driving below the influence of legal prescription drugs and more than-the-counter treatments – come into force in March.

Going to pot

The latest testing kit, the Securetec DrugWipe 3S (recognized as ‘Drugwipe’), is the 1st portable device that can detect the presence of cannabis and cocaine – 2 of the most frequent substances employed by drug drivers.

It operates by analysing a small quantity of saliva and outcomes are indicated by the appearance of lines on the device – a lot like a pregnancy test.

The device will cut down the time it requires to determine no matter whether drivers are under the influence. If the test reads good, the police will take the person to the police station for a blood sample, which will be utilized in any subsequent prosecution.

Penalty decision

The drug driving penalty regime coming into force in March permits for 12 months’ disqualification, a fine of up to £5,000 and up to 6 months in prison, or both.

It also sets limits for 8 illegal drugs at really low levels to tackle illegal drug use and driving, and is the biggest shake-up of drug driving laws for 85 years.

Taking guidance from physicians and medical specialists, the government decided not to enforce a zero tolerance policy in case of accidental exposure to drugs, for instance inhaling cannabis in an open space or having traces still present in the technique despite the side effects wearing off.

Acid test

The new limits consist of 10 micrograms of cocaine, 2 micrograms of cannabis and one particular microgram of LSD per litre of blood.

For prescription drugs, limits incorporate 80 micrograms of morphine, 500 micrograms of methadone and 550 micrograms of diazepam per litre.

In July last year, the government issued recommendations to healthcare experts on how clinical tips ought to be provided to individuals on prescribed medication where side effects can impair driving.

Tackling ‘hidden’ menace of drug-driving

Phantom Menace: Boeing Solves Its Own Cargo Issue with a New-Age Jeep

It’s a typical government issue: You’ve spent billions of dollars building an aircraft in contrast to any other for the express objective of acquiring troops into remote areas more rapidly than traditional helicopters can. But the outcome, the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey, is so ­narrow that military ground cars cannot be transported with these troops. So when you’ve rushed them into position, what then?

Now Boeing, 1 of the Osprey’s designers, has created a remedy with a name almost as silly as the issue it solves: ­Phantom Badger. Why not just Phantom? Why not just Badger? The 2 together sound like bad-notion Tuesday on Nickelodeon. But Boeing and the military are significant, and the U.S. Navy not too long ago certified the Phantom Badger for flight aboard the Osprey, providing personnel a versatile, rugged option for ground transport. Previously, variations on the civilian-ATV theme were the only autos that fit in the Osprey, but their modest cargo and personnel capacity restricted their usefulness. The Phantom Badger, on the other hand, can carry 3350 pounds or tow 4000.

Courtesy of Boeing Phantom Works

At only 60 inches wide, the PB is 6 inches narrower than a Honda Fit, enabling it to slip very easily into the V-22’s cargo hold. It utilizes the very same 3.-liter turbo-diesel V-6 as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500. Here, the 6 swills either diesel or the JP-8 jet fuel that is plentiful on military bases and produces the exact same 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque as it does in civilian duty. The Phantom Badger weighs in at just below 8000 pounds thanks to its 4-wheel steering, it has an impressive turning circle of only 24 feet—11 feet tighter than even a Mini Cooper S’s.

It has mounts for each a .50-caliber machine gun and a 40-mm grenade launcher, but its size and open-air construction imply it is a lot more of an original Jeep than an MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected automobile). With a best speed of 80 mph on pavement and the ability to ford up to 3 feet of water, the Phantom Badger can go practically anyplace and get there quickly—just like the Osprey. But when the Badger arrives, the troops aboard it will truly be exactly where they want to be.

Pack it Up, Pack it in

The Phantom Badger is developed to travel aboard the Osprey, but Boeing is pleased to pack them into any of its cargo aircraft.

What do you get when you cross an Osprey with a Badger?

Advanced Tactics recently announced the initial effective flight test of its Black Knight Transformer, a hybrid truck/helicopter made for military use. 4 rotors on each side fold in for driving on narrow streets and can tilt forward like those on the Osprey for higher-speed flight. With the potential to be piloted either onboard or remotely, the Black Knight could manage tasks at the moment assigned to the Osprey and Phantom Badger.

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Phantom Menace: Boeing Solves Its Own Cargo Issue with a New-Age Jeep