Dr. Aoife O'Grady:

I drive a very old hybrid at the moment. I am waiting for my EV. When my hybrid is in electric mode, it is absolutely silent. During the starting and finishing of journeys it would be that way anyway. Back when these vehicles were coming on the market in 2006 or 2007, the idea of having some kind of bell, almost like a reversing sound, was put forward by some manufacturers but it never came through. I think there will be behavioural change among people when we are crossing roads that we do not just rely on our ears. I think that will come. There does not seem to be that push to put a sound in to alert pedestrians or cyclists.