Many people get annoyed when loud cars with modified exhausts cause excess noise or when loud motorbikes or mopeds race past. In some Belgian cities, cars with modified exhausts have already been banned. Now some local authorities want to go a step further and introduce “noise cameras”.
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“Noise camera” systems to be introduced in Belgian cities to catch motorists driving cars that are too loud
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According to a report in the newspaper ‘Het Nieuwsblad’, cities including Brussels and Ghent hope to install roadside noise detection systems that work in a similar way to speed cameras. A photograph will be taken of the numberplate of any vehicles (cars, lorries, motorbikes and even mopeds) that are too loud and a fine will be issued.
In Brussel an official application has already been made for permission to install acoustic speed cameras. The city authorities in Ghent plan to do the same.
What is the legal position?
The Belgian Highway Code stipulates that motor vehicles may not produce more than 95 decibels of noise. However, the issue has hitherto been finding equipment to accurately and safely measure the noise produced by an individual vehicle.
Now the city authorities in Ghent and Brussels are are monitoring pilot projects in France and the Netherlands. Amsterdam is testing its system and the aim is to issue the first fines to the drivers of noisy vehicles before the end of this year using noise speed cameras. In France, the authorities are waiting for the legal all-clear for the introduction of a “noise camera” system. Once it is introduced there, fines of 90 euro will be issued each time a vehicle is found to be making excess noise.