Hybrid cars are more secure than traditional cars

According to the “Washington Post” published on the 17th, hybrid vehicles are more likely to protect the personal safety of drivers and passengers in traffic accidents than traditional cars because of their extremely heavy batteries.

Hybrid vehicles currently account for approximately 2.5% of the U.S. market, and have become more and more conventionalized from the initial specialization of lightweight, miniaturized cars, that is, they can convert the same conventional car into a hybrid car. In the case of constant volume, the weight is greatly increased. If the Honda Accord is converted to a hybrid, the weight will increase by approximately 430 kilograms; the Toyota Highlander SUV will increase its weight by approximately 300 kilograms.

The newspaper quoted the investigation report of the US Highway Accident Data Institute that because the battery of a hybrid car is 10% heavier than a conventional car of the same model, this part of the weight can reduce the damage suffered by people in traffic accidents by 25%.

However, because the sound of a hybrid car engine is extremely small, pedestrians do not easily find vehicles behind them, and thus are prone to traffic accidents with pedestrians. In view of this, the U.S. Congress has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop sound devices within 3 years and place them on hybrid and electric vehicles to alert pedestrians of vehicles approaching to reduce traffic accidents.