Road.cc poll - Benny Hill gets thumbs-up to provide soundtrack for hybrid cars

Manufacturers of hybrid cars may argue that their vehicles, often derided by the petrolhead lobby, are no laughing matter, especially in these eco-aware times, but in our latest poll, road.cc users have firmly linked them with one of Britain’s best-loved comedians of yesteryear.

In response to news that the EU was investigating whether hybrid vehicles, which typically run fairly noiselessly apart from the sound of wheels on tarmac, should be made to emit noise to alert other road users to their presence, four in ten road.c users plumped for the Benny Hill theme as the sound they would most like to hear cars such as the Toyota Prius emit.

Hill’s comedy sketches may belong to a bygone era, but there’s still something about the upbeat music – which officially goes by the name Yakety Sax – which can’t help but put a smile on your face.

We did try to get footage of a man driving a hybrid pursuing Jeremy Clarkson around the Oxforshire countryside where he lives, but the great man proved elusive, so you’ll have to make do with this Benny Hill tribute montage instead

Tied for second with just under one in five of the votes apiece were Sergeant Wilson from Dad’s Army, whose “Excuse me. Would you mind awfully?” seems particularly suitable for hybrid drivers who are likely to be at the other end of the driver stereotype spectrum from white man van with his yells of “Pay your Road Tax!” and those who are happy for the vehicles to remain “Silent – it keeps me on my toes!”

Bringing up the rear, with just under one in eight of the votes cast apiece, were the “Parp!” sound emitted by Noddy’s car, and the Tardis, suggesting that marketers of hybrid vehicles may find that the public – or road.cc users at least – isn’t prepared just yet to believe claims that the cars feel roomier in the inside than they look from the outside.

We’ll have a new poll up on road.cc very soon, so keep a look out for that on the site.