The EU has been great in many ways for member countries. A common currency and free movement across borders have been a boon for trade. On the downside, though, are the many stupid regulations that hinder trade. At one stage 26 types of fruit and vegetables, including artichokes, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, onions, peas, carrots, plums, and ribbed celery were under shape restrictions, and they also told us that bananas must not bend abnormally. Thankfully they have since relaxed this bizarre ruling but don’t think we are free from more strange rulings as we enter the new generation of zero-emission vehicles. Greener cars will get you a good motor insurance quote and possibly a car that sounds like a spacecraft.

In the not too distant future when more and more of us will have changed our cars over to a greener version, the perceived notion of roads being used by fuel efficient motors that also cut down on noise pollution due to their smaller engines may not be the route we are going down at all.  Thanks to a possible new EU ruling not only will you be thinking about the traffic ahead while driving but also what sound you want your car to make as you drive along. Each manufacturer may be allowed to provide its own sounds, with the regulation simply setting a minimum volume to prevent pedestrians, cyclists and especially blind people from stepping into the path of battery-powered cars. Some of the manufacturers are thought to be considering using the same noises used on the spacecraft in Star Wars; the noise will be projected in the direction in which the vehicle is travelling to cut down on unnecessary noise. The manufacturers think that a noise will only be needed when the car is travelling under 20mph as going any faster will create tyre noise which will warn the people who are most at risk.

Professor Paul Jennings at the university where the tests on different sounds are being carried out said: “We will have a week with music and weeks with natural sounds, engine noise and also with science-fiction sounds. “We need to find noises which alert people to the approaching vehicle without causing the annoyance people already feel when they hear the bleeping sounds of reversing trucks .It is possible that pedestrians will learn to look out for silent cars and that the warning sounds could become redundant but, he said, people were far more dependent on detecting noise than they realised when crossing the road. They think they are reacting to the sight of a vehicle but often it is the sound that is triggering their attention and sound also tells you whether the vehicle is accelerating or decelerating.” The tests are ongoing and the end results could prove very interesting.