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Charity warns of dangers posed to visually impaired community from electric vehicles

EV's are inherently quieter than traditional petrol or diesel cars 

A sight loss charity is warning of the risks posed by electric vehicles to people who have visual impairments.

Sight Matters stresses it's not 'anti-EV' but believes the increasing number of them is likely to leave individuals facing additional challenges whilst navigating the roads and pavements.

The charity says it's not the case that other senses become more acute if you suffer sight loss.

And although many rely on a guide dog to assist them Chief Executive Cathryn Bradley says the canines can only help so much:

In 2019, all electric vehicles required an 'Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System' (AVAS) which would activate when an EV was travelling below 12mph as a way of warning pedestrians of their presence.

However manufacturers built a switch enabling the driver to turn this functionality off.

The charity's Accessibility Lead Dave Wilson explains why the 'switch' feature has now been removed:
 

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