When electric cars come, MARK PARTON has an idea that may save a cyclist or two

I’M riding home from Civic, it’s mid-afternoon and raining. I do a lot of thinking on the bike, but on this afternoon I’m thinking mostly about getting home to a hot shower.
I’m on the bike path on Ellenborough Street that doubles as a footpath, which takes you across Daintree Crescent at one point. I glance over the right shoulder about 50 metres from the intersection. There are no cars and from that point I rely on my ears. As my legs pump, I listen for the sound of cars behind me and that’s when I had this gem of an idea.
It’s 2011 and we’re marching forward, in theory, to a clean energy future; a future that will include thousands of electric cars on our roads.  But electric cars are very quiet and bike riders and the visually impaired can’t hear them.
As much as traffic noise can be an unpleasant intrusion into our lives, it does save lives. It’s why only foolish bike riders pedal along with an iPod plugged in.
So I’m thinking that when we get a proliferation of electric cars on the road, they may well legislate that these vehicles must emit a certain amount of noise as a warning to pedestrians and cyclists… and this is my big idea.
Who’s to say that the noise should sound like a car engine?
If you have to have noise coming from your electric car, why not make it a noise you like? We’ve all got personalised ring tones, what about personalised car tones?
This could be a billion dollar industry! There would be a mechanism that would play whatever song you wanted to announce your arrival.
Oh, laugh if you want, but I’m sure that suggestions of phone ring tones as a big money spinner would have also been laughed down 15 years ago.
Imagine AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” heralding your arrival, or the Wiggles’ “Big Red Car”.  Or “Rev it Up”, Jerry Harrison; “Life in the Fast Lane”, the Eagles or “Running on Empty” by Jackson Browne… the list seems endless. Sure, we’d have to have a limit on volume, but I think it’s worth thinking about.

Mark Parton is the breakfast announcer on 2CC.