Nearly silent hybrid cars in Japan may get a noise-making device because the cars have been deemed dangerous by visually-impaired people and some automobile users. The government is making a review on the issue. The petrol-electric cars, which in recent times have become Japan’s top-selling vehicles, drone along almost silently when they are toggled from fuel mode to battery mode. 

"We have received opinions from automobile users and vision-impaired people that they feel hybrid vehicles are dangerous," a transport ministry official said.

"Visually-challenged people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed and on the electric motor,” he said.

The ministry has initiated a panel of scholars, vision-impaired groups, consumers, police, and the automobile industry to discuss the issue.

"They decided to consider introducing a sound-making function in petrol-electric hybrids when the 13-member panel held its first meeting on Thursday,” the official said.

But they have not come to a conclusion on what kind of sound should be employed. They have only said that it should bring about a response of vigilance, he said.

"On the other hand, we should pay attention to residents (along roads) as hybrids are excellent in reducing noise," the official added.

The panel is expected to draft a report by the end of the year. Its suggestion will be discussed at the ministry's committee on automobile safety before it is drawn up into legislation.

Toyota Motor launched the world's most popular hybrid car, the Prius, in 1997.

A cheaper and refurbished Prius was rolled out in late May in Japan and has become a great hit, getting orders for 200,000 units, Toyota sources said. It became the best-selling car in Japan, recently.