I pretty much agree with you. I myself was recently startled when walking through my company's parking lot when a Prius came up and passed me from behind - I had no idea it was there until the front end had passed me and I saw it with my peripheral vision.
Pretty much all forms of animal life, we humans among them, scan for danger, including car danger, with our ears as well as our eyes. There is a reason why we have 5 senses that we can use for detection - sometimes 1, or 2, or 3, or even 4 are not enough depending on the circumstances. I vote that we keep the redundancy.
TRONZ said:
Until enough EV's get out on the roads, it is hard to make a meaningful, informed policy. The only data we have so far are Hybrids in parking lots. I will admit to having been stunned at seeing a Prius on the heels of my kids without them even knowing the car was there. We have just all been conditioned to scan for car dangers with our ears and eyes. Our roadways will get quieter and we will adapt to mostly visual scanning over time. Till then I say do what needs to be done to save lives. If one child's life is saved because of these noise devices, then I say it is well worth it.