This could be a significant problem for those of us who are prone towards walking along roads with their noses stuck in books. If the hybrid is actually that quiet at slow speeds - and I'm faintly suspicious of this story, given the lack of statistics or tangible studies quoted - then they could be quite dangerous to those of us who just don't pay attention to what we "see" while on foot. I don't quite see why they don't use electronic imitations of "road noise" to fake the aural footprint of a real car, but then, I've never really understood why cel phones don't do the same with the "yelling" problem caused by folks used to landline phones.

Via Micky Kaus.