Following the European Economic Area agreement led by the EU, Norway now has the duty of implementing the new regulation, something that will happen in the next two to five months, said Norway’s Directorate of Public Roads.
The EU decided in April of this year that electrical cars and other silent vehicles need a sound warning system (AVAS). The sound system will make sound from the moment the vehicle is started until it reaches a speed of 20 km/h, and also when the vehicle is in reverse. This is to prevent accidents and to make pedestrians more aware of electrical and hybrid cars.
The Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted (NABP) think the initiative is good news, reported NRK.
Assistant secretary general of NABP, Arnt Holte, said: “There are many of us who are blind or partially sighted now relieved that in future it will become possible to move safely among traffic.”
But the Norwegian Association Against Noise is not so satisfied.
Ulf Winter, a member of the association said: “Sound on silent vehicles is a bad and hasty solution to the problem. We would prefer the electrical car drivers to be warned about pedestrians nearby, and not the other way around. Such sensor systems are being developed.”
Warning sounds for electrical cars will most probably become a reality from 2019. It is not known what kind of sound it will be.
