Electric Cars as Lawyers’ Best Friends By James Reed
More on my diatribe against electric cars. Here is material indicating how these monstrous toys could become a lawyer’s lunch, as people who do not have a driveway, and that is a lot in the inner city, lay power cables across footpaths, which people slip on, injuring themselves. The problem is how to recharge these toys. Better I think to keep with the technologically advances petrol and desiel engines, sweet smelling and fantastic of the environment, as an entirely new infrastructure is not needed.
“Astonishing footage has put a spotlight on the potential dangers of electric vehicles amid fears they could become 'a lawyer's picnic'.
An electric car parked on a street in Manly, on Sydney's northern beaches, was spotted being charged by a lengthy trail of power cord.
The cable loops over the front fence, which snakes from the road up a driveway and into a nearby home.
The owner even kindly installed a hazard cover over the section of the cord running across the public footpath so locals don't trip over the cord while walking past.
A close-up photo shows the car surrounded by electrical cables.
Residents sent photos and footage to 2GB breakfast host Ben Fordham, who was left 'amazed'.
He fears the issue could soon become a major dilemma for neighbourhoods where electric vehicle owners, who don't have a garage or driveway, must park on the street.
'It's strange, you need to see it to believe it, it's one of the longest extension cords I've ever seen,' Fordham told listeners on Friday.
'The person was lucky enough to find a park outside their home. What if the only parking you can find is on the other side of the street?
'Do you then run the extension cord across the street with a bit of gaffer tape over the top?'
'What happens when there are 10 electric cars in the street?'
Fordham said he was also sent more footage of the lengthy cord trail which remains lying there even when the car isn't there.
Local resident Mark believes it's an accident waiting to happen.
'It's a trip hazard as well as an electrical hazard to children,' he told the program.
'If someone trips over, what are they going to do. Are they going to sue the home owner because their home contents will probably have public liability cover but insurance companies will say 'it's outside your house, we're not covering.'
'The local council will say it's not their problem so it's going to be a lawyer's picnic.'
'The electrical cables are going to get wet at some stage.'
'I think some council were looking to run the cables down poles but it's going to be like spaghetti junction. It's going to look terrible.'
The Electric Vehicle Council is pushing for every state and territory to mandate targets for the sale of electric cars after the ACT recently became the first Australian jurisdiction to ban new and diesel vehicles from 2035.
Electric cars take anything from 15 minutes up to 20 hours to charge, depending on the battery.
Fordham called on authorities in Australia to work out how electric cars are going to be charged in the future with at least one council on Sydney's north shore planning to get rid of driveways.
'I reckon only 30 per cent of people in my street have a garage and a lot of councils are getting rid of driveways,' Fordham said.
'They argue that when you've got a driveway, you're putting schoolkids in danger because you're reversing out of the driveway when you're got kids walking along the footpath.'
'We're reducing driveways and garages, so they're are going to be fewer points to charge your electric vehicle, which pushes them out onto the street.
'Then you've got to get the power from the house to the car on the street, which involve many, many extension cords.'”
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