‘Quiet’ electric vehicles twice as likely to hit pedestrians: study

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Pedestrians are twice as likely to be hit by electric or hybrid-electric cars than vehicles fuelled by gas, new research reveals.

Countries around the world are trying to come up with ways to combat climate change with plans to reach net zero emissions. Electric vehicles are part of the solution — but they can be risky for pedestrians. Because of how quiet they are, pedestrians may not hear them approaching in the streets.

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Researchers in Great Britain looked at “all available recorded road traffic collisions” from 2013 to 2017. The study compared the casualty rates of pedestrians fatally struck by electric and hybrid vehicles to the casualty rates of those struck by “fossil fuel-powered internal combustion engine (ICE)” vehicles.

The findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health on May 21, showed that collisions with pedestrians were twice as likely to occur with electric cars.

The casualty rate per 100 million miles was 5.16 for electric cars, while the rate for ICE vehicles was less than half, at 2.40.

Where pedestrians were walking also made a difference, researchers found. They compared urban and rural environments. Electric cars were not more dangerous in the countryside, but “strong evidence” suggested they were three times more dangerous than ICE vehicles in the city.

“This risk must be mitigated as governments phase out petrol and diesel cars,” researchers wrote in the study, adding that drivers of electric cars “must be cautious of pedestrians.”

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Moving forward, researchers said it would be of interest to “investigate the extent to which younger drivers are involved in collisions” of electric cars with pedestrians.

The findings are also important for Canadians. Electric vehicles are part of Canada’s plan to stop emitting greenhouse gas emissions or offset its emissions (through tree planting or by other means) by 2050, according to the federal government. Canada is included in a list of 28 countries that have turned net zero policy into law, as per U.K. organization Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit.

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