Following a successful pilot project in Geneva, the Swiss government is now looking into whether to enforce fines and penalties on drivers who produce too much noise. Officials in Zurich have confirmed that they will soon be installing special "noise radars", which have allowed local authorities to easily monitor traffic noise.
Writing to Keystone-SDA, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) confirmed that they are looking into imposing fines on drivers who produce too much noise. The announcement follows a successful pilot project in Geneva last year, during which the local council installed Hydre noise radars on four city streets. The devices could measure and detect which vehicles were producing too much noise - set at over 80 decibels.
The FOEN noted that the devices proved to be adept at detecting noisy vehicles. Around 70 percent of vehicles caught during the trial were motorbikes, followed by cars (17 percent), trucks and buses (13 percent). The practice is catching on too, with officials in Zurich confirming that they will also be trialling the noise radars soon.
Officials noted that the number of noise complaints related to cars and motorbikes in Switzerland has increased significantly in recent years, especially in cities where traffic levels are higher.
In a separate test conducted in Geneva, officials recorded combined traffic noise levels of up to 117 decibels for cars and 110 decibels for motorbikes in some areas - for reference, an ambulance sounds its siren at 120 decibels. While the pain and damage threshold for humans is 120 decibels, the traffic readings were still well above the warning threshold of 90 decibels and the recommended noise level for traffic (82 decibels).
Keystone-SDA predicted that around one in 200 vehicles in Swiss cities are considered to be too loud. According to the World Health Organisation, excessive noise can have a profound impact on the health and wellbeing of residents, harming cognitive performance, sleep and mental health.
With the cameras, the FOEN argued that it would now be feasible for the Swiss police to enforce a limit on excessive traffic noise - while the country is infamous for its noise complaint rules, both real and fake, there is currently no legal limit for unnecessary noise made by vehicles in traffic. The government concluded that once all pilot projects were concluded, they would decide whether to roll out the devices nationwide and begin legislating fines or penalties.
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