8-year old boy hit by Toyota Prius he didn’t hear

So if you remember back in October there was a huge controversy over hybrids being too quiet for blind people to hear. The U.S. National Federation of the Blind Committee even ran tests to see if it would be an issue for blind people crossing the street that couldn’t hear a hybrid passing by. Well after reading this, blind people wouldn’t be the only ones worried about getting run over by a hybrid.

Eight-year-old, Owen Erickson, was hit by a Toyota Prius while biking with a friend that he supposedly didn’t hear passing by. Although little Owen wasn’t injured, he did end up on the hood of the car.

Owen’s mom, Jane Flannigan, says that she couldn’t hear the hybrid pull-over after the accident.

“I saw the car, but I could not hear anything,” she recalled. “It is totally silent.”

Last month, a legislation was introduced by the U.S. House of Representative that could require hybrid vehicles to emit a minimum amount of noise.

 

Source: Kare (via CNN)

[tags]Cars, Car, Auto, Automobile, Vehicles, Technology, Auto News, News, Automotive, Toyota[/tags]