Rules Requiring 'Quiet Cars' To Have Audio Alerts Delayed (Again)

In January 2013, the U.S Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed a minimum sound requirement for electric and hybrid vehicles, a move to protect pedestrians who may fail to notice a silent car driving past. "This proposal," the agency had said, "will help keep everyone using our nation's street and roadways safe." The plan to implement such sounds has been ongoing since despite auto maker objections, but it recently hit a snag that has stalled the finalization until early next year.

The Transportation Department made its proposal under the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 (PSEA). The idea is that electric and hybrid vehicles are nearly silent when operating from electric motors, posing a danger to pedestrians who may fail to realize a vehicle is nearby due to the lack of sound. According to the NHTSA, pedestrians are 19-percent more likely to be involved in a crash with a hybrid car in comparison to a gasoline-powered car.

By adding an alert, the pedestrians will be more likely to notice the vehicle's presence and, hopefully, the number of accidents will decrease as a result. Under the proposed regulations, auto makers would only need to have an alert present on these vehicles when they're traveling at 18MPH or under, covering times when the vehicles are backing up, going through intersections, and similar instances.

The proposal has hit a few roadblocks, though. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was originally supposed to finalize the regulations by January 2014, at which point auto makers would get at least 18 months before having to implement the alerts. That was delayed, however, and the NHTSA's administrator announced in July that the regulations would instead be finalized by this November.

Now that November has arrived, however, another delay has been announced. Nestled deep within the DOT's monthly report, the agency revealed that finalization has been delayed until mid-March 2016. The reason for the delay is specified only as "Additional coordination necessary." Neither the DOT nor the NHTSA have provided a statement elaborating on the delay.

SOURCE: Transportation.gov