Hybrid cars and SUVs --which switch to silent, battery power when gliding or braking or standing still -- are about twice as likely to kill pedestrians as their full-throated counterparts are.
But the deaths may not have been due to the silence.
That's what Amy Freeland, an investigator with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found out when she analyzed data in the files of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration from more than 200,000 traffic-related fatalities from 2004 to 2008.
Most of the fatal encounters occurred when the hybrids were going faster than 35 mph -- when they're making the same amount of noise as a conventional vehicle.
"There's a piece we don't know about this," says Freeland. "And I think that may be market distribution." She suspects -- but can't yet prove -- that people who drive in crowded areas with high pedestrian traffic, like cities or beach towns, are more likely to drive hybrids. More pedestrians means more chances of a pedestrian accident.
NPRHere's an idea: Drivers of hybrid cars are just bigger assholes and less concerned about their surroundings.
