Petition seeks pedestrian noise on 9M older electric cars, hybrids

Petition söker fotgängarljud på 9M äldre elbilar, hybrider Petition seeks pedestrian noise on 9M older electric cars, hybrids The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering whether to apply a newly implemented rule to millions of older vehicles. The rule requires electric cars and hybrids to have noise meters to warn pedestrians.

Approved in 2018, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 requires electric and hybrid vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021 to emit a sound at speeds below 30 km/h to alert pedestrians of their presence. These vehicles were considered too quiet otherwise due to their lack of engine noise Petition söker fotgängarljud på 9M äldre elbilar, hybrider.

Petition söker fotgängarljud på 9M äldre elbilar, hybrider

Petition seeks pedestrian noise on 9M older electric cars, hybrids In July 2022, NHTSA received a petition (first spotted by Teslarati) asking that FMVSS 141 be applied to all electric cars and hybrids on US roads. Filed by Sidney Firstman, Highwood, Ill., the petition claims that the March 2021 implementation date is arbitrary, that vehicles built before that date pose the same risk to pedestrians, and that therefore the lack of mufflers on all older electric cars and hybrids constitutes a safety flaw Petition söker fotgängarljud på 9M äldre elbilar, hybrider.

NHTSA has since opened an investigation into these claims involving vehicles built as early as the late 1990s. The oldest vehicle listed is the 1997 General Motors EV1, but given the retirement or destruction of most of the fleet, it’s unlikely to have much real-world impact. Overall, the investigation lists 938 associated products, totaling 9.1 million individual vehicles Petition seeks pedestrian noise on 9M older electric cars, hybrids.

It is unclear how the investigation will play out, but it is worth noting that there was a large gap between the adaptation of the noisemaker rule and its implementation. The rule was adopted in 2010 but wasn’t finalized until 2018. Automakers then received several extensions on the implementation deadline, the last of which came in 2020.

It is very unusual for NHTSA to initiate an investigation from a petition, and if it is seriously considered and extended to even one of the extension dates, this could mark several auto safety firsts.