The SAE (formerly Society for Automotive Engineers) released a new standard on Tuesday giving safety guidance to emergency personnel dealing with the increasing number of electric and hybrid vehicles on the road. The standard calls for a combination of labeling electric and hybrid vehicles to help emergency workers quickly identify the vehicle type, and training materials.
“As electric vehicles enter the marketplace in greater numbers, it’s an appropriate time to recognize best practices that facilitate a safe response when these vehicles are in an accident,” said SAE committee chairman Todd Mackintosh.
Like many things, electricity can kill someone if administered in the correct way. That factoid is in the conventional wisdom and is causing some to think emergency workers are risking their lives when working on crashed electric vehicles. Emergency workers are already risking their lives just by dint of working in the middle of the road, not to mention the risk of dealing with explosive liquids like gasoline. Electricity, as the new technology on the block, may be getting a reception similar to anything new, that is a period of distrust and misunderstanding, by some, of the real dangers.
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