[Sssster]

I have read many posts from owners of EV's who either have already disabled the pedestrian audio warning or want to find out how to do that. I'd love to read an opinion on this from a lawyer in the forum. It strikes me that if a pedestrian steps off the curb in front of an EV and gets hit and injured (or worse) - and it turns out that the pedestrian audio warning was turned off via Bimmercode - the driver of the EV could be in a world of hurt, legally. The lives of both the pedestrian and the EV driver could BOTH be devastated by purposely using Bimmercode to disable a safety feature.
Lawyers out there?

 

[Mrflyguy]

I have a great response but cmon sense tells me not to post a reply…😮 I am not an attorney!

 

[andrewj.white58]

I have read many posts from owners of EV's who either have already disabled the pedestrian audio warning or want to find out how to do that. I'd love to read an opinion on this from a lawyer in the forum. It strikes me that if a pedestrian steps off the curb in front of an EV and gets hit and injured (or worse) - and it turns out that the pedestrian audio warning was turned off via Bimmercode - the driver of the EV could be in a world of hurt, legally. The lives of both the pedestrian and the EV driver could BOTH be devastated by purposely using Bimmercode to disable a safety feature. Lawyers out there?

In Australia (where I practise) it could be contributory negligence If the pedestrian sued the driver for damages. It may even be a breach of the (Australian) Design Standards with which the manufacturer (BMW) has to comply to sell the vehicle here. Whether that’s a criminal act would require further research.