We're seeking feedback on whether to have all new light electric road vehicles (including fully electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and hybrid vehicles) fitted with an audio alerting system.
Why we want your input
Pedestrian safety is important for all Australians. This is your chance to have your say on technology which can help to reduce potential collisions by making it easier to hear electric vehicles travelling at low speeds.How you can voice your opinion
Read the Consultation Impact Analysis and tell us what you think. Upload, email or post your submission by 26 May 2023.What will be the outcome of this consultation?
Your submission will help to decide whether alerting systems for electric vehicles should be mandated in Australia, and when.The Issue
Electric vehicles generate considerably less noise when compared with vehicles with conventional internal combustion engines. At low speeds, when tyre and wind noise is negligible, it can be harder for pedestrians to hear electric vehicles, increasing the risk of a collision. These collisions can still cause serious injury and death. The risk is exacerbated for pedestrians who are blind or have poor vision, as they generally rely on sound to negotiate the road network independently.
To mitigate this risk, most major vehicle markets overseas have mandated that electric vehicles be fitted with Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS), which generate noise when vehicles are travelling at low speeds. An international regulation has been developed for AVAS, United Nations Regulation 138/01 (UN R138/01).
Through the National Road Safety Action Plan 2023-25, the Australian Government has committed to mandating AVAS for electric vehicles, subject to the outcomes of an impact analysis process. In line with this commitment, we have now prepared the below Consultation Impact Analysis to seek views from all interested parties on whether AVAS should be mandated in Australia.
We're seeking feedback on:
- support for the proposed introduction of AVAS for new light electric vehicles in Australia
- the benefit-cost analysis, including assumptions on the effectiveness of AVAS, the costs and the benefits
- the suitability of adopting UN R138/01 as a new Australian Design Rule (ADR) under the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018, including any concerns on functional and performance and test requirements
- applicable vehicle categories, implementation timeframes, and alternative standards
- any other relevant views or information that could assist in decision-making.
At this stage, we are proposing to introduce AVAS only for light electric vehicles (vehicle categories MA, MB, MC and NA). While UN R138/01 applies to light and heavy electric vehicles, insufficient data was available to fully assess the case for mandating AVAS for heavy vehicles in Australia. However, we are interested in any information you may have on the costs, benefits and feasibility of mandating AVAS for heavy electric vehicles in the future.
Relevant documentation
Participate
28 Mar 2023 09:00 AEDT
26 May 2023 23:59 AEST
Closed
We are seeking your views on this topic.
Please include:
- contact name
- organisation name, if applicable
- contact details, including telephone number, postal and email addresses
- confirmation whether or not your submission can be made public—published—or kept confidential.
All submissions to be made public need to meet the Digital Service Standard for accessibility. Any submission that does not meet this standard may be modified before being made public.
If your submission is to be made public, please ensure you do not include any personal information that you don't want to be published.
If your submission is confidential, please ensure each page of the submission is marked as confidential.
Please click on the 'Have your say now' button below to upload your submission.
This consultation is closed.
Submissions can be emailed to Sustainable.Transport@infrastructure.gov.au, or sent to:
Director
Land Transport Emissions and Environment,
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
GPO Box 594
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Australian Privacy Principle 5 Notice
Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems for Electric Vehicles
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (the department) is collecting information for the purposes of public consultation on a proposal to mandate Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) for new electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid vehicles in Australia, in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.
The department will use this information to inform consideration of issues associated with mandating AVAS in Australia and will store this information securely. It may be used by the department to make further contact with you about the review.
The department will not disclose information to third parties, except in the circumstances outlined below.
Submissions, in part or full, including the name of the author may be published on the department's website unless the submission is confidential. Confidential submissions (including the author's name) will not be published. Private addresses and contact details will not be published or disclosed to any third parties unless required by law.
Submissions will only be treated as confidential if they are expressly stated to be confidential. Automatically generated confidentiality statements or disclaimers appended to an email do not suffice for this purpose. If you wish you make a confidential submission, you should indicate this by ensuring your submission is marked confidential.
Confidential submissions will be kept securely and will only be disclosed in the following circumstances:
- in response to a request by a Commonwealth Minister
- where required by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
- where required by law.
The department may also disclose confidential submissions within the Commonwealth of Australia, including with other Commonwealth agencies, where necessary in the public interest.
Please note that in order to protect the personal privacy of individuals in accordance with the Privacy Act any submissions containing sensitive information, personal information or information which may reasonably be used to identify a person or group of people may not be published, even if not marked as confidential.
The department's privacy policy contains information regarding complaint handling processes and how to access and/or seek correction of personal information held by the department. The Privacy Officer can be contacted on 02 6274 6495 or by email: privacy@infrastructure.gov.au.