Young children are trained to stop, look and listen before they cross the street. In the electric car age, parents might want to put extra emphasis on the word “listen.”
Pedestrians are twice as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid car than by a vehicle that runs on gasoline or diesel, according to a study released Tuesday by researchers in London.
While crash statistics aren’t yet robust enough to reach scientific conclusions on the reasons, the researchers hypothesize that the relatively quiet operations of an electric vehicle is the key factor. Pedestrians in noisy urban areas were almost three times as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid car.
Lead researcher Phil J. Edwards at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told The Times the study is not intended to be anti-EV. “Electric cars are definitely a thing for the future. They are a wonderful way to reduce air pollution,” he said. “But we must mitigate the danger” to pedestrians. EV drivers “need to be extra cautious of pedestrians.”
Research on the effect of electric vehicles on public safety is scarce — not just for cars and trucks, but electric bicycles, scooters and other forms of electric transportation. But as the EV market grows, the subject is attracting more attention.