According to a very short radio news report I heard this morning "The Obama Administration" will be requiring electric vehicles to make more noise below a speed of 19 mph, forward or reverse. The sound bite said that 2300 pedestrians were hurt last year due to being run over by quiet electric vehicles.
I can just imagine all electric vehicles sounding like a backup warning beeper on a utility truck when driving slowly on city streets. That ought to improve the quality of life in an urban area.
There was no mention about when this new regulation would become effective. If it does, and if it applies to motorcycles, I think I will need to buy a new electric motorcycle before they are forced to stick a noise-maker on their bikes - although no doubt there will soon be instructions on the internet regarding how to disable the beeper.
If you are old enough you may recall that motorcycles during the mid-1980's were required to have beepers that beeped with the operation of the signal flashers. It didn't take long for owners to silence that beeping and after a couple of years the regulation, the beepers, and their sound went the way of square headlights, 85 mph speedometers and huge taillights and turn indicators.
