The Japanese government is considering the introduction of noise-making devices to protect vision-impaired pedestrians from near-silent hybrid cars when running on electricity, before the engine kicks in. "Vision-impaired people feel that hybrid vehicles are dangerous", a transport ministry official told AFP.

and on the electric motor, he said. The ministry of transport has brought together a panel that will draw up a report by the end of the year. The panel is considering forcing manufacturers of hybrid cars to introduce a sound-making function that alerts passersby to the presence of a vehicle.

The system developed by Lotus consists of a 300-watt speaker, a throttle position sensor, amplifier and synthesis controller. The system would produce engine sounds that would rise and fall -- just like the sounds of a combustion engine -- during acceleration.

The safety advocates in the U.S. have been talking about this issue for a while. In April, Senators Arlen Specter and John Kerry introduced a bill that will require the government to conduct a study about how to protect the blind from silent cars. Lotus has already developed a system called Lotus Sound Synthesis that uses speakers under a vehicle to add some extra sound.