Hybrids Sure Are Quiet Out There. Yeah, TOO Quiet
There's a cloud surrounding every silver lining. In this case, the London Free Press reports that the Canadian city's visually impaired population is worried about getting blindsided by hybrid cars. Ron Nurse expressed his concern over the issue, suggested adding a "flutter or a whirl" to hybrids, and revealed his, uh, bravery. "When you are standing on the corner, you have to think how close to the curb are you and you're left to wonder if it's OK to cross the street. More often then not, you just go." Kathryn Ruhland provided the spin control: "The biggest factor to keep in mind is that a majority of sound coming from the approaching car comes from the tires," the public relations manager insisted. Even so, the National Federation for the Blind is on the case.
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There's got to be some cheap hack to put a 12V buzzer that comes on with ignition. If manufacturers want to get really fancy, the speaker would work in EV mode only. Reminds me how Tesla's founder was joking about piping in the sounds of horse hoofbeats to compensate for the silence of his upcoming car.
Maybe some sort of Tesla coil, to make pedestrian's hair stand on end, could be mounted to alert blind-deaf people. Certainly hybrids have a large enough electrical energy storage system to power such a device.
Maybe the London Free Press should find some real news to report on. If they have left over space they should do what the Toronto Sun does and have a Sunshine Girl.
This is an easy fix... just stick a playing card in the wheel spokes.