Switzerland plans to punish drivers of loud cars with noise traps

By dpa | 25 April 2019


GENEVA: Politicians in the Swiss city of Geneva plan to punish the drivers of cars that are too loud using noise radar devices, Germany's Autobild motoring gazette reports.

The city's parliament has been discussing the measures and intends to announce a binding noise limit for cars, motorcycles and trucks by mid-2019.

Switzerland's "Noise League" is urging parliament to set the noise limit at 80 decibels, which as about as loud as a pop-up toaster or a washing machine.

Geneva officials said city residents suffer from a high level of traffic pollution, making noise the second-highest form of environmental pollution behind contaminated air. Geneva inhabitants have a right to healthy surroundings, said parliament.

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Customised cars with illegal exhaust systems tuned for maximum noise are another problem. Most of these systems are controlled remotely from the cabin and can be deactivated in a split-second.

A radar device to detect noise and flash the offending vehicle was feasible and not particularly expensive, Green politician Delphine Klopfenstein Broggini told the news portal 20 Minuten.

However development is likely to take several years, as noise radar must be able to differentiate between vehicles such as tractors or passenger cars and several technical hurdles need to be overcome.

Several European cities are trying to tackle noise pollution by imposing lower speed limits and resurfacing cobbled streets with asphalt.

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