Prius gets sound option to protect pedestrians From: ECN Magazine - 08/24/2010 Toyota's Prius hybrid is becoming a little less quiet with a new electronic humming device that is the automaker's answer to complaints that pedestrians can't hear the top-selling car approaching. The gasoline-electric hybrid gets good mileage but is also quiet because it runs as an electric car much of the time. That advantage has drawn complaints that pedestrians, the blind in particular, are at greater risk of being hit by the car, especially at low speeds. Pedestrian deaths compared to overall traffic fatalities are higher in Japan than in the U.S. and many other nations because of Japan's narrow and crisscrossing crowded streets. Japan is also a rapidly aging society, making audible cars critical. Read the entire article at: http://www.ecnmag.com/News/2010/08/Prius-gets-sound-option-to-protect-pedestrians/ Link: Video demonstration (in Japanese) of the device: Toyota to Sell Approaching Vehicle Audible System for 'Prius' http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/news/10/08/0824.html