Electric cars ‘three times’ more likely to hit pedestrians than petrol vehicles

Electric cars more likely to hit pedestrians than petrol vehicles, a study has found. Electric and hybrid vehicles are quieter than cars with combustion engines, making them harder to hear, especially in urban areas, the researchers discovered.

An analysis of British road traffic accidents showed, when scrutinising 32bn miles of battery-powered car travel and 3tn miles of petrol and diesel car trips, that mile-for-mile electric and hybrid cars were twice as likely to hit pedestrians than fossil fuel-powered cars.

They were three times more likely to do so in urban areas. “Electric cars are a hazard to pedestrians because they are less likely to be heard than petrol or diesel cars,” said Phil Edwards, first author on the study and professor of epidemiology and statistics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

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“The government needs to mitigate these risks if they are going to phase out the sale of petrol and diesel cars.” He added: “If you’re moving to an electric car, remember it’s a new kind of vehicle. They are much quieter than the old-fashioned cars, and pedestrians have learned to navigate roads by listening for traffic.

“Drivers of these vehicles need to be extra cautious.” He added: “If government made sure these systems were installed in all electric vehicles and retrofitted them to older electric cars, that would be a good start.” Nicola Christie, professor in transport safety at UCL, wared: “When these cues are missing this could be very problematic for people in busy urban areas.”

“The problem could be exacerbated for people with poor visual acuity or for children who find it hard to judge the speed and distance of vehicles,” she said. “If the government is planning to promote a transition to electric cars, then that will bring some risk to pedestrians unless we take care of this,” said Edwards.