Posted: February 2019
The benefits of electric vehicles are well documented: zero exhaust emissions of CO2 and damaging air pollutants; compliance with new climate change and global warming legislation. It’s no wonder more and more electrically-powered vehicles are being unveiled, from vans to HGVs and coaches to buses.
In London, mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to make London one of the world’s greenest cities, promising to buy only electric or hydrogen-powered buses for the city in future. And government grants make investing in an electrically-powered fleet an even more attractive prospect.
Safety is a major concern, however. Electrically-powered vehicles are only audible at high speeds, which poses a major safety risk to vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and those who are visually impaired.
When electric vehicles travel at speeds below 20kph they are almost silent, and research has shown that they are 37% more likely to be involved in pedestrian accidents and 57% more likely to be involved in cyclist accidents than conventional vehicles. Buses constantly stop-start at low speeds and delivery vans make frequent stops, making the potential for accidents considerable.
Since 2018, we at Brigade have been involved in the QRTV (Quiet Road Transport Vehicles) working group to establish safety requirements for electric vehicles. As a global leader in vehicle safety, we’re proud to have developed our multi-frequency Quiet Vehicle Sounder (QVS), integrating our patented bbs-tek® technology.
Our QVS offers several unique features, making it the perfect fit for bus and logistics fleets:
It’s our mission to improve road safety. Let us work with you to prevent collisions and save lives. For more information, please get in touch here.
