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A British study found that collisions with pedestrians were
twice as likely with electric or hybrid vehicles as they were
with gas or diesel-powered vehicles.
Myke Luebbers of the Illinois Freedom Alliance has worked with
both propane and electric forklifts.
“As noisy as the propane is, it is a benefit because you can
hear those forklifts coming down an aisle. Whereas an electric
fork truck, until it gets within a few feet of you, you don’t
hear the whine of that electric motor,” Luebbers said.
The report published in the Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health suggests that the risk to pedestrians is even
greater in urban environments.
As more Illinois drivers use electric vehicles, other issues
with lithium batteries have become more prevalent.
Luebbers explained that crashes become more dangerous when
there’s heat from lithium batteries.
“Fires-wise, as a volunteer firefighter, hybrid vehicles and
full-electric vehicles present a whole other set of problems for
us,” Luebbers said.
Luebbers added that flooding the vehicle with water works better
than foam to extinguish the blazes.
The farming community also has concerns with electric vehicles.
Luebbers said the batteries have a lack of staying power for
agricultural work.
“A lot of farmers joke, ‘well, you want to sell me an electric
tractor, how long is the extension cord gonna be?’ They are not
fans of it by any means,” Luebbers said.
According to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, there are
now more than 100,000 electric vehicles registered in the Land
of Lincoln.
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