Today on PRI’s “The World,” I heard a heartening story. Somebody was listening, somewhere. And that’s a good thing. Here is my original post:
5 APRIL 2010 · 8:55 PM
Lazy Pro-Animal Blogging – Oregon Edition
Electric cars are coming to Oregon, and they’re trying to figure out where to site the charging stations. I had been waiting for the right time to make this observation, and that time came.
Here, in my traditional style of precisely 250 words — not 249, not 251 — is my letter, as published in the Eugene Register-Guard last week. (Note the headline was NOT my idea. See here.)
Electric cars threaten animals
We need to address a serious problem that comes with electric cars: They are silent. And deadly.
The problem we have is that our animals, domestic and wild, have grown used to listening for the sound of our internal combustion engines. Electric cars make no such sound, and I very much fear that we’re about to create a senseless abattoir of road-kill, as our pets and wildlife try to make the transition from dodging noisy internal combustion engines to avoiding silent electric vehicles.
Electric cars are noted everywhere as being extraordinarily quiet, and that’s the problem. The animal populations have evolved to pay attention to the sound of our autos, and now, with virtually soundless vehicles moving at the same speeds down the same roads, I fear a long period of increasing road kills. The same may well hold true for our own children and adults.
Now, I know from many years of personal experience driving the back roads that deer whistles work. There may be other solutions, and I’m not really proposing any here. But now is the time to take a moment and think about what we can do to avoid a huge and senseless slaughter of our beloved pets and wildlife that we could have prevented, had we taken some time in advance to study and prepare for the problem.
If we don’t pay heed now, most of the wildlife we’re going to be seeing around our highways will be vultures and crows.
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[…]
As electric vehicles become more and more prevalent on our roads, more and more pedestrians and animals are at risk — not to mention the drivers of those vehicles, if they hit a medium to large size animal. A lot of drivers have been killed hitting cows. Bad for the cow, bad for the car, tragic for the driver and the driver’s family.
If we are WISE, we can avert tragedy….
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Back to the present day. Here’s the story from today’s “The World,” a radio show on Public Radio International:
HOMEPAGE FEATURE
Adding Sounds to the Silence of Electric Cars
BY THE WORLD ? JUNE 27, 2011The hum of a finely tuned engine is the source of pride for many car owners. Unless, of course, the car is an electric or hybrid, both of which can be pretty quiet. There are some, in fact, who say that electrics are too quiet, and that they pose a danger to pedestrians, cyclists and the sight impaired. But a group of researchers at Warwick University in Britain is testing a range of new noises that may be coming soon to an electric vehicle near you. … “Electric vehicles and hybrids are alarmingly quiet. The concern is that as a road user, as a pedestrian or as a cyclist, we’re just not aware of their presence. And therefore there’s a real danger that there could be an accident.”[…] But something has to be done. The United States has already passed legislation requiring electric vehicles to make noise when traveling at slower speeds, and now Europe is turning its eye, or rather ear, to the problem as well….
So, am I taking credit for anything here?
Nope.
I’m just happy that concrete steps are being taken to avoid a generation of massive roadkill.
That’s a good thing.
Courage.
A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog His Vorpal Sword. This is cross-posted from his blog.
A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog, His Vorpal Sword (no spaces) dot com.