Grant Shapps vows to `banish the boy racer´ with noise cameras
Grant Shapps vows to ‘banish the boy racer’ as Transport Minister unveils plan to deploy noise cameras to catch and fine ‘rowdy drivers’
Competition launched to find the noisiest streets to get noise camera tech fittedWinning areas to have cameras installed using £300k Government investmentTransport Secretary Grant Shapps says he wants to ‘banish boy racers’ He has encouraged MPs in England and Wales to apply to run trials in their areaDisrespectful drivers could be hit with fine for revving engines and fitting illegally-loud exhausts
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Grant Shapps declared he wants to ‘banish the boy racer’ from our roads with a new initiative to tackle excessive vehicle engine and exhaust noise in the worst affected areas.
The Transport Secretary today unveiled plans to deploy noise cameras to catch ‘rowdy drivers’ who are ‘ruining peace and quiet’ for locals ‘by revving engines and causing excessive noise with illegal exhausts’.
Motorists found to be breaching legal noise levels by the cameras could be issued with fines.
His department has invited MPs to enter a competition to find the noisiest streets in England and Wales amid concerns about the impact on residents.
Banish the boy racer: Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has today launched a new initiative to tackle excessive vehicle engine and exhaust noise in the worst affected areas
Four areas will be chosen to take part in a £300,000 trial of innovative noise cameras.
Police have the power to fine drivers who flout noise rules, but struggle to gather evidence.
The cameras can automatically detect when vehicles are breaking legal noise requirements.
They will be able to provide real-time reports to police, which could result in more targeted enforcement.
Preliminary testing showed the technology can identify individual vehicles in certain circumstances and assign noise levels to them.
Similar technology has already been deployed in worst-hit parts of the capital.
Cameras installed in the affluent Royal Borough of Knightsbridge and Chelsea have caught almost 300 motorists driving illegally noisy cars in a year
‘Sound cameras’ – which can identify the numberplate of any offending vehicle and issue a fine automatically – are also being trialled in Paris
They have been installed in the affluent Royal Borough of Knightsbridge and Chelsea, which is often overrun with high-power – and high-noise – supercars, usually driven by super-rich overseas visitors to Central London who pay to have their performance vehicles shipped over.
The cameras, which has been installed since February 2021, have been triggered almost 10,000 times by vehicles in 12 months, though only a fraction were deemed illegally loud and owners punished.
They caught 289 motorists driving their cars at over 100 decibels who have been issued £100 fines. For cars registered since 2016, the legal noise limit is 74dB.
Sound cameras – which can identify the numberplate of any offending vehicle and issue a fine automatically – are also being trialled in Paris to tackle the same issue.
RT to help us find Britain’s noisiest streets❗
If rowdy drivers are ruining peace & quiet in your area, revving engines & causing excessive noise with illegal exhausts, I want your MP to apply for our noise camera trial as we work on the tech to banish the boy racer�� pic.twitter.com/H6HILdZ0lU
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) April 30, 2022
Commenting on the new competition to have cameras installed in noise-polluted areas, Mr Shapps said: ‘We want those in Britain’s noisiest streets, who are kept up at night by unbearable revving engines and noisy exhausts, to come forward with the help of volunteer areas to test and perfect the latest innovative technology.
‘For too long, rowdy drivers have been able to get away with disturbing our communities with illegal noisy vehicles.
‘It’s time we clamp down on this nuisance, banish the boy racer and restore peace and quiet to local streets.’
The trial will be led by a collaboration between professional services firms Atkins and Jacobs.
Andrew Pearce, practice director of Atkins-Jacobs Joint Venture, said: ‘This scheme is a critical development for people living in areas affected by anti-social driving.
‘It demonstrates how we can use technology to take a highly targeted approach to solving these problems.
‘Testing different noise measurement technologies with a range of vehicles in this controlled environment means we can ensure tickets are only sent to drivers with illegal and anti-social cars or bikes.
‘Highway authorities will be able to automate noise enforcement and get on top of the problem without using up valuable police resources.’
The Department for Transport has launched a competition to find the noisiest streets in England and Wales where the new devices could be positioned
Exhausts and silencers are required to be properly maintained, and not altered to increase noise.
Non-compliance can lead to a £50 on-the-spot fine.
The DfT said research has linked long-term noise pollution to physical and mental health problems such as heart attacks, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and stress.
People living in deprived areas are up to three times more likely to complain about noise than those in less disadvantaged locations, according to the Government’s recent Levelling Up White Paper.
AA president Edmund King said: ‘Excessive noise from modified cars used by ‘street racers’ or ‘pimp my ride’ racers are normally associated with defined areas where these individuals meet.
‘Whilst this new noise technology can be targeted at known hotspots, it remains to be seen whether this just encourages the racers to find a street with no cameras.
‘There is no doubt that anti-social excessive noise can cause health problems so targeting the culprits will be welcomed by local residents.’
John Stewart, who chairs campaign group UK Noise Association, said: ‘For many years we have had complaints from residents about excessively noisy vehicles.
‘They will all be hoping to prove that their street is one of the noisiest so they can get the first batch of cameras.’
The DfT said it is not proposing to reduce speed limits to cut background noise for communities near major roads.
