As a motorcyclist, I’m used to hearing complaints about loud exhausts. Plenty of bikers revel in the roar of their motor – after all, a powerful engine is one of the main appeals of motorbiking. But for anyone living near a busy road, the sound of revving can be thoroughly stressful.
Most people who spend time in towns or cities will have jumped at the distinctive noise of a tailpipe backfire, a couple of short explosive bursts that can sound like gunshots, or the drone of a clearly illegal exhaust note. The idea that someone has modified their car or motorbike to give the rest of us a fright is downright infuriating. One suspects that it is mostly a young male thing: adolescent drivers shouting ‘look at me!’ in the most juvenile way.
Now some local councils are trialling so-called traffic ‘noise cameras’, with the aim of stemming this acoustic menace. They combine standard video cameras, automatic number plate recognition software and directional microphones that can pick up specific vehicle noise. The current noise limit for cars made after 2016 is 72dB. The average volume of a car travelling at 30mph is around 60dB.
One suspects that it is mostly a young male thing: adolescent drivers shouting ‘look at me!’ in the most juvenile way
Trials are taking place all over the UK, including in Bradford, Alderley Edge and various London boroughs. Kensington & Chelsea has caught more than 10,000 vehicles breaking the noise limit in the first six months of their trial, 300 of which were clocked at over 100dB (persistent exposure to 85dB or higher can cause permanent damage to people’s eardrums). This particular council has been handing out fixed penalty notices of £100 and given the wealth of the borough, it’s no surprise that there have been reports of tickets for supercars including Lamborghinis and McLarens.
For those who worry that this is yet another example of nannying local government, it’s worth listening to what some of the residents have said. In a recent council report, one local complained that ‘the noise, day and night, from cars with souped-up engines is ruining my life. It’s too noisy to have the windows open, especially at night’. Add to that the cost to the rest of us – according to one study, poor sleep and stress from excessive traffic noise costs the economy around £10 billion a year – and you’ll realise that there’s an overwhelming case for clamping down.
It is actually a criminal offence to alter an engine or exhaust with the intention of increasing volume. Not that you’d know. The law is rarely enforced and you can find plenty of videos online showing drivers and bikers how to remove components such as baffles, which are designed to dampen the noise produced by an exhaust.
Oddly, noise pollution is exempt from the 1990 Environmental Protection Act and can only be prosecuted with difficulty. As with most social irritants, one suspects it’s the case of a few people causing problems for many. When I lived in Wandsworth, I used to be woken every morning at around 6 a.m. by the same idiotic biker on his way to work with an exhaust note that would surely fail a track day test, let alone an MOT.
For some reason, Wandsworth Council had placed a standard Gatso camera (the boxy yellow speed cameras we’ve all come to know and hate) just after a set traffic lights on one of the area’s main dual carriageway thoroughfares. Every single driver would slow for the lights, accelerate, slow again for the camera and then rev away at speed – a classic example of where a noise camera would seriously enrich the lives of thousands.
It seems obvious, but if local councillors want to appeal to voters, it’s normally a good idea to improve their lives. Speak to any politician and they’ll tell you that the top two complaints from constituents are potholes and internet speed. Well, I think it’s time we add a third: egotistical drivers who ruin a good night’s sleep for the rest of us. Who knows, perhaps these new noise cameras might even restore the good name of considerate petrolheads like me.
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