Analysis: The quietness of electric vehicles is a significant safety challenge for pedestrians, cyclists and people with visual impairments
By Flaithrí Neff, Technological University of the Shannon and Dónal Fitzpatrick, National Disability Authority
As the world transitions to electric mobility, the quietness of electric vehicles poses a significant safety challenge. While quieter urban streets are a hallmark of progress, the silence of approaching vehicles makes it harder for pedestrians, cyclists, and people with visual impairments to detect them in time. The Electric Vehicle Acoustics project explores how sound design and universal design standards can ensure electric cars are heard as well as seen.
At first, quiet electric vehicles were seen as a clear advantage - the sound of silence - symbolising progress toward cleaner, calmer cities. But without the familiar sound-cues of an engine, pedestrians and cyclists can be caught off guard, especially those who rely on hearing to navigate safely.
The new project was launched to examine this challenge through the lens of universal design which ensures that human diversity is considered along with public safety. It brings together research in acoustics, psychology, and engineering to better understand how people detect and interpret vehicle sounds - and how new standards could ensure that electric cars remain audible without becoming intrusive.
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From RTÉ Brainstorm, why electric cars need to be heard as well as seen. Presented by Áine Kerr with Dr Flaithrí Neff, Dr Dónal Fitzpatrick and motoring journalist Neil Briscoe.
Why is silence a problem?
Traditional vehicles emit a range of low-frequency engine and exhaust noises that signal their approach. By contrast, EVs produce little more than tyre noise and faint electrical hums and these audio cues can all but disappear below roughly 20 kilometres per hour. In urban areas where slow speeds are common, this near-silence has already led to measurable increases in pedestrian accidents involving EVs. Studies in both the UK and US have reported higher collision rates for electric and hybrid vehicles - up to three times higher in urban areas compared with conventional petrol or diesel cars.
In response, regulators introduced the Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS), a requirement under UNECE Regulation No. 138 that mandates all new electric and hybrid vehicles emit artificial sound when moving at low speeds. The goal is simple: make EVs detectable using artificially-generated sound without compromising the environmental and comfort benefits that their quietness brings.
But while the rules set out how loud an EV's warning sound must be and what tones must be included, they don't yet account for how people actually hear and recognise those sounds in everyday settings.
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In its first phase of the project, we conducted an international survey to gather insights from pedestrians - both from those who identify as visually impaired, and those who do not — about their experiences and perceptions of electric vehicles. The responses revealed widespread concern that EVs are often difficult to detect in time, particularly in noisy or complex urban environments. Building on these findings, the next phase of EVA will focus on developing new ways to measure how well EV sounds actually work for people and how effectively they help someone detect, locate, and recognise an approaching vehicle in time to stay safe.
Such research has direct implications for how future revisions of the AVAS regulation and associated compliance standards might evolve. A standard that quantifies not only how loud a sound is but how well it works for people could provide a foundation for more inclusive regulation.
International standards often emerge through collaboration between industry, governments and technical experts. Yet, academic research remains underrepresented in these discussions, despite being the source of much of the foundational evidence that informs good regulation.
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From RTÉ Archives, Teresa Mannion reports for RTÉ News in 2011 on eight brand new electric cars charged by wind power making their debut on the Aran Islands
The EVA project highlights the importance of bridging this gap by embedding research directly into standardisation. Through bodies such as the National Standards Authority of Ireland , Irish researchers can contribute to working groups that shape how compliance protocols are implemented nationally and across Europe. This also means developing protocols that involve organisations such as the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design at the National Disability Authority.
Listening to users
Regulation cannot succeed in isolation from the people it aims to protect. EVA proposes a more universally designed participatory approach in which end-user feedback (particularly from people with visual and hearing impairments in the case of AVAS) becomes an integral part of how standards and regulations are developed.
This means moving beyond laboratory or workbench tests to gather data from real-world environments: crossings, car parks, and mixed-use urban spaces. It also involves recognising that perception is context-dependent. Factors like ambient sound, reverberation from nearby buildings, and competing urban noise all affect whether a vehicle’s alert is detected in time.
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By creating universally designed frameworks where diverse subjective experience complements objective measurement, EVA seeks to build an evidence base robust enough to inform both technical specifications and policy decisions.
EVs represent a profound shift in transport, energy, and environmental policy, but they also invite us to rethink how we design for diverse human senses. The EVA project shows that safety and sustainability need not be at odds if we take an inclusive, evidence-based approach.
As EV adoption accelerates, the race is not only to decarbonise transport, but also to ensure that no one is left behind in the process. Making EVs safely audible is both a technical and moral challenge - one that demands we listen as carefully as we innovate.
The Electric Vehicle Acoustics project is supported by a Research Ireland Public Service Fellowship grant (23/PSF/12154).
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Dr Flaithrí Neff is a lecturer in the Limerick School of Art and Design and Department of Digital Arts and Media at the Technological University of the Shannon. Dr Dónal Fitzpatrick is the Senior Advisor for the European Accessibility Act (EAA with the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design at the National Disability Authority.
Podcast credits: The podcast was presented by Áine Kerr, produced by Ciaran O'Byrne, research was by Julia Kennedy and it was recorded by Niall McMonagle. RTÉ Brainstorm is edited by Jim Carroll and the assistant editor is Aoife Ryan-Christensen. The series is proudly supported by Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
