Stellan Jacobsson was walking with his guide dog Myrsak along Guöviksvägen outside Karlshamn when the unpleasant event occurred, something that BLT was the first to tell. He would walk across the road and felt as usual with his cane and listen for cars.

- I waved the stick and heard nothing. Then I put my stick down and started walking across the road. Then it's small, says Stellan Jacobsson.

Didn't hear a car

He did not understand what had happened but when he came across the road stood a couple explaining that a hybrid car had driven on his cane which had now gone in two pieces.

- I didn't understand at first because I didn't hear a car, he says.

Stellan Jacobsson's blindfold was broken when the hybrid car drove on it and he had to order a new one. Photo: SVT / Stina Sandström

Stellan Jacobsson is grateful that it was only his stick that got hit and that the incident did not have more serious consequences. He is now reporting the incident.

- It's nasty. I think the hybrid cars should be heard, he says.

"A traffic hazard"

The Visually Impaired National Association has also responded to the incident.

- It's awful. It is a situation that one should worry about and it is fatal, says Jimmy Pettersson of the National Vision for the Injured

The issue of silent electric cars has been raised at EU level and from 2021 all newly manufactured electric vehicles and hybrids will be equipped with warning sounds. According to EU rules, the sound must be switched on for up to 20 kilometers per hour.

- We think the warning sound should be heard at a speed higher than 20 kilometers per hour. A quiet car is a traffic hazard, says Jimmy Pettersson.

Works globally

However, Mattias Bergman, CEO of BIL Sweden, thinks this is necessary.

- We as an industry cannot develop vehicles for a specific country and here we work globally to find a solution and over 20 kilometers is the natural sound of the vehicles. The joint assessment we make is that no such sound is needed, says Mattias Bergman.