Noise-detecting traffic cameras to be trailed in four areas to catch boy racers

Noise-detecting traffic cameras are being trialled across the UK to catch inconsiderate motorists who disturb people with loud vehicles.

The pilot scheme has been deployed in West Yorkshire, Birmingham, Bristol and Great Yarmouth in Norfolk in an attempt to stop ‘boy racers’, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced.

The £300,000 scheme will first be rolled out in the Keighley area of Bradford, before being expanded to the three other locations.

It follows a DfT competition to select which areas will host the trial amid concerns about the impact on residents from motorists revving engines and using illegal exhausts.

Earlier this year it emerged that Paris was waging war on noise pollution.

Reports cited research suggesting that a single loud motorbike can wake as many as 10,000 people up in the French capital in the middle of the night.

In the UK, the annual cost of urban road noise including lost productivity from sleep disturbance and the impact on health is estimated to be up to £10 billion.

The DfT added that road noise can contribute to health problems such as heart attacks, strokes and dementia.

The technology it is now rolling out involves a camera and several microphones which can detect noisy vehicles.

The camera records an image of the vehicle and its noise level, creating a ‘digital package of evidence’ which can be used by police to issue fines, the DfT said.

It was developed at a private test track to prove its accuracy.

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: ‘Rowdy road drivers beware – these new cameras will help the police clampdown on those who break the legal noise limits or use illegal modified exhausts to make excessive noise in our communities.

‘We’ll be working closely with the local authorities and police to share any findings, and I hope that this technology paves the way for quieter, peaceful streets across the country.’

Meanwhile, Cheshire East Council says it is also rolling out a similar scheme between Wilmslow and Alderley Edge.

By law, vehicle exhausts and silencers are required to be properly maintained, and not altered to increase noise.

Those who break the rules can be given a £50 on-the-spot fine.

Noise Abatement Society chief executive Gloria Elliott said: ‘Excessively noisy vehicles and antisocial driving causes disturbance, stress, anxiety and pain to many.

‘It is unsafe and disrupts the environment and people’s peaceful enjoyment of their homes and public places.

‘Communities across the UK are increasingly suffering from this entirely avoidable blight.

‘The Noise Abatement Society applauds rigorous, effective, evidence-based solutions to address this issue and protect the public.’

Professional services firms Atkins and Jacobs are collaborating as a technical consultant for the trial.

Andrew Pearce, practice director of Atkins-Jacobs Joint Venture, explained: ‘We are fully expecting the trial in these four chosen locations to confirm what we have seen in testing, which is a highly targeted use of technology to ensure only those motorists making excessive noise will be subject to enforcement.’

London’s Westminster Council is already using noise cameras in the areas around Waterloo Place and Exhibition Road.

That move came in response to long-term problems with noise and dangerous driving, such as cars performing loud doughnut manoeuvres in the early hours of the morning.

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