Save the planet! Squash a pedestrian!

This is rather funny, in a dead serious kind of way. Silent hybrid cars are a menace to pedestrians. The funniest lines in this story:

Some suggest hybrid manufacturers add a beep that would go off when backing
up. "Maybe we need music or a bell, like an ice-cream truck," said Prius owner
Kristen Carlisle of San Jose.
"At first glance it seems like an interesting idea," said Jim Thomas, the
California representative for the National Motorists Association. "But perhaps
not. I can imagine a crowded parking lot with all those hybrids coming and
going, and the annoying sounds would create a major noise-pollution problem.
Think road rage."

This is a prime example of the law of unintended consequences.