Quiet-Car Rules Must Be Delayed, Automakers Say: NHTSA Not Ready

The concern that very quiet hybrid and electric cars may pose a danger to unaware pedestrians has been around for a decade or more now.

Back in 2010, Congress required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop rules for adding alert noises to cars running on silent electric power.

The law was adopted at the urging of the National Federation for the Blind, among other groups.

DON'T MISS: Making Silent Electric Cars Noisier: 3 Carmakers, 3 Sounds (Nov 2010)

But those rules, due back in January, aren't ready. So automakers have stepped forward to urge a delay in the schedule that requires them to start phasing in the devices for 2016.

According to The Detroit News, a pair of auto-industry lobbying groups--the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Association of Global Automakers--jointly issued a letter urging NHTSA to postpone full compliance until September 1, 2018.

That's because not only are the rules due on January 4 lagging, but "it is apparent that there remains a great deal of uncertainty as to the content of the final requirements," according to the groups.