Green electric-powered cars are much more dangerous to pedestrians than traditional vehicles with petrol engines , a charity report said yesterday . It found that walkers are 40 per cent more likely to be run over by a quiet hybrid or electric car than by one with a petrol or diesel engine . And as the number of green vehicles grows because of Government tax breaks for eco-friendly cars , the number of injuries they cause has been rising fast , it said . Scroll down for video . Cars with electric or hybrid engines , which are much quieter than regular petrol cars , are driving a huge rise in accidents among pedestrians who do not hear them coming . The report from the Guide Dogs charity found a 54 per cent increase in pedestrian injuries in accidents involving quiet cars between 2012 and 2013 . The charity – which says that guide dog owners and their animals are particularly at risk from vehicles that they can not hear coming – called for laws to make noise generating systems compulsory on all hybrids . Guide Dogs manager James White said : ‘ Quiet vehicles put pedestrians at risk outside schools , in residential areas and in our towns and cities . 'The Government is spending hundreds of millions of pounds to increase the numbers of quiet cars on the roads , and while we support the development of environmentally friendly vehicles , more needs to be done to protect pedestrian safety. ’ The call for legislation was backed with a survey carried out by YouGov which found more than three quarters thought hybrids make the roads less safe for blind or partially-sighted pedestrians . Similar proportions thought quiet green cars are a threat to older people and to children . Electric cars and hybrids running under electric power move silently and are likely to surprise people on foot who expect to hear the approach of a vehicle . The visually impaired are among the worst affected by the switch to electric as guide dogs also struggle to identify the threat , with campaigners calling for noise generators to be made compulsory . Car builders and independent companies have been working on a range of artificial sound generators that would lessen the risk of accidents . Most involve speakers fixed to the car , which work in the direction the car is moving to reduce nuisance to people who are not in the way . Sounds promoted vary from a reproduction of the whine of an old electric motor through computerised squawks to a rumble reminiscent of a diesel or petrol combustion engine . EU rules say such generators must be fitted to quiet cars by 2021 , but Guide Dogs said that before then there will be thousands more potentially dangerous green cars on the road . It said that car makers should ‘ do the right thing and fit sound generating systems to quiet vehicles before it becomes compulsory. ’ Legislation in Britain should also insist that noise-making equipment is not only fitted to a car but always switched on , Guide Dogs said . The charity ’ s campaign was supported by Paralympic sprinter Libby Clegg . Miss Clegg , who has only peripheral vision , said : ‘ I rely on being able to hear cars to judge when it is safe to cross the road . ‘ It is terrifying to cross when you are unable to hear quiet hybrid and electric vehicles . Ensuring all quiet vehicles have sound generating systems installed and switched on would ensure that millions of people , like me , who are living with sight loss , would be protected from the growing safety hazard . ’
Was a 54 per cent jump in accidents involving the cars from 2012 to 2013 . Visually impaired are among the worst affected , Guide Dogs report finds . Campaigners are calling for compulsory noise generators on electric cars .