Running on Silent: Hybrid Vehicle Safety Concerns

Here is an excerpt from a new blog post at GreggMarcus.com:

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a study that found that a driver of a hybrid vehicle is 25 percent less likely to be injured in a crash than driver of a conventional vehicle. Couple these statistics with the money drivers save on gasoline and a hybrid seems like the best choice. While hybrids are by far the safer choice for drivers, they're far more dangerous for the greenest travelers of all, pedestrians and cyclists. In this post, Gregg S. Marcus, a Long Island Insurance Executive looks into the hidden dangers of hybrid vehicles.

When hybrid cars are in electric mode, they are near silent and can’t be heard coming. Visually impaired pedestrians or those who step into the street without taking a look for cars first are in much more danger of being struck than with louder, standard vehicles. In fact, fuel-efficient vehicles are 20 percent more likely to be involved in an accident with a pedestrian than a standard car. The National Federation for the Blind has called for quiet vehicles to emit a continuous sound and for additional research on the subject.

To read this post in it's entirety, click here to visit the Gregg Marcus official website.