Hybrids may be hazardous to your health

What with all the commercials that position hybrid cars as the salvation of Planet Earth, it’d be nice to see the technology taken down a peg or two. And that’s just what we get from an article on Motor Trend’s Web site (hat tip: Slate’s Mickey Kaus) that reveals the menace hybrids pose to public safety. The item focuses on “one of the dangerous drawbacks of driving a hybrid: It’s so quiet that pedestrians can’t hear it when it’s starting up or idling, and they often walk right into the path of the moving vehicle.” By contrast, pedestrians can hear an ordinary SUV revving its gas-guzzling engine a mile a way, which gives them ample time to scamper up onto the sidewalk and begin scowling. Well, at least you’ll have the consolation of knowing a hybrid isn’t polluting the environment as it silently mows you down. Next week in AdFreak: The Hidden Terrors of Tofu.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

February 8, 2006 | Permalink