Asked by: Baroness Crawley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to require motor manufacturers to add a noise component to electric cars to help visually impaired people to hear approaching vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Requirements to fit sound generators, known as Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS), are mandatory for new electric and quiet hybrid-electric vehicles. These requirements ensure that vehicles that can be operated on electric power only will always produce a minimum level of noise.