Zoomi Life

You can thank the lawyers for this concept. Chevrolet’s new Volt, the hybrid-EV coming out next year, will have “car sounds” added. Yep, the worry that blind or deaf people won’t hear it (yeah, they said “deaf people won’t hear it”–you can’t make this stuff up) and will get hit by a motorist, who will in turn sue Chevy for making a car that’s too quiet, caused the thinkers at General Motors to come up with a sound-producing speaker for the car.

Read More: Chevy Volt to Have Artificial Engine Noise

Everybody loves the idea of electric cars. Renewable, rechargeable, no emissions, silent… but is silent safe? After all, as pedestrians, we rely on our sense of hearing as much as our sight to detect oncoming traffic when we’re out and about.

Many people have postulated that as electric vehicles become more mainstream, it is possible that the silent nature of the vehicles might cause increased traffic accidents because no one can hear them coming. In fact, the National Federation for the Blind is strongly backing a proposal to add some kind of warning noise to hybrid and electric vehicles for just this reason.

Read More: Stanford Inventors Create Fake Engine Noise to Make Electric Cars Safer