Article Reflection No. 22 (8/27/2022)

Article: On Alert: Should quiet cars be heard?

Reflection:

With the Earth warming at alarming speeds, changing gas cars to electric ones is reasonable. However, along with the federal budget, other factors, hearing and pedestrian safety, must be taken into account. In the The New Yorker article “On Alert: Should quiet cars be heard?” by John Seabrook, the journalist discusses the pros and cons of quiet vehicles, questioning the safety of a future filled with electric cars. To show the significance hearing has on each person, the author explains that, “unlike vision, smell, and taste, all of which dim when consciousness shuts down for the night, hearing is a 24/7 operation” (Seabrook 3). In fact, Seabrook writes, primates’ hearing saved lives by catching the sound of an approaching lion.

According to the article, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act was enacted in 2010 but took nearly 10 years to properly enforce. This act, passed to protect distracted drivers and pedestrians, required all electric and hybrid vehicles to have an acoustic vehicle alerting system (AVAS). Bringing this act to the federal level was a result of hard work. Working in partnership with the National Federation of the Blind, a University of California, Riverside psychology professor Lawrence D. Rosenblum conducted a study in which blindfolded subjects could hear a Honda car from twenty feet away, while the Prius was not detected until it went right by them.

The future of the world is in our hands. It’s how we nurture it that determines its fate. Reading about the auditory would and how quiet cars are potentially harmful has upended my stigma towards rumbling, rowdy vehicles. Next time I hear loud noises from a car, I will try to smile, not frown. Next time, I will think, “thanks for the safety of pedestrians”. I must.

(Photo Credit: Ege Soyuer, The New Yorker)