St. Petersburg clamps down on ‘loud’ cars (VIDEO)

Drivers of vehicles modified to create excessive noise may lose their license, the city police have warned

Traffic police in the Russian city of St. Petersburg have launched a crackdown on vehicles that make excessive noise. Drivers who modify their cars and motorcycles to make them louder than others may lose their license, the police in the country’s second largest city warned on Monday.

Over the weekend, the city authorities began employing a noise-measuring device, the police said in a statement on social media. Fifteen offenses were registered, it added.

Drivers whose cars are found to exceed the noise limit have ten days to remove the upgrades and modifications made to their vehicles. If they fail to do so, their vehicle registration will be cancelled, effectively banning the cars from the road.

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If a vehicle that had its registration canceled is stopped again, the driver will risk losing their license, the traffic police have warned.

Vehicles that have been altered or used in a way that creates excessive noise, especially at night, have caused “legitimate indignation” among city residents, the traffic authorities explained.

Loud cars also threaten road safety, as roaring engines distract other drivers, the police added.

Similar measures are in place in other cities around the world. Noise camera trials were launched in urban locations in the UK in 2022, while New York City has also been using roadside sound meters and issuing fines.

The Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam have been piloting digital signs to combat noise pollution from road vehicles.

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Toronto announced a crackdown on loud exhaust systems in 2019, with then-Mayor John Tory suggesting that men driving loud cars were compensating for their “inadequacies.”