State governments installing noise cameras
October 22, 2008 by George Skentzos
State governments are poised to implement automated noise camera systems which will issue a ticket to vehicles deemed to be too loud.
To most motorists this shouldn’t pose a problem with the intention of these devices being to limit the use of compression braking on larger vehicles in suburban areas.
The noise camera system has been in development since 2005 with the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) already trialling the system in Mount Ousley near Wollongong.
The fully automated system uses a set of microphones which continually record and analyse traffic activity while computer software is able to isolate specific sounds from general road noise to determine whether a vehicle is in breach of a predetermined noise threshold.
Vehicles deemed to be too noisy will be issued with a traffic infringement notice in the mail with a 10-second video and audio clip stored for any potential court proceedings.
“The combination of these systems offers the potential for excessive engine brake noise incidents to be identified and recorded, which may provide a useful tool to enforcement agencies.”
The system can be further developed to include cars with loud stereo systems, noisy exhausts or even an inconvenient honk of the horn.
Similar programs have already begun in South Australia and Victoria with noise from heavy commercial truck compression brakes being the target of the new technology.
Source: TheNewspaper
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Well………
looks like we will have to cut down on the drive by shootings.
(dont want a ticket in the mail)
looks like another way to make money. ok what if 2 trucks compression break at the same time and the combined sound of the 2 makes the meter go over the limit who gets the fine?.
wat a load of junk typical gov givs moni to pensioners n familys n the new thing is ur cars to noisy heres a fine thnks for been a australian
it seems to be helpful mostly to limit the use of compression braking on larger vehicles in suburban areas, (it bothers me personally). the problem is that thecameras couldn’t recognize the right cars, that make noise.
I live next to a freeway, And you don’t know a single thing is on it at any time of the day and night, Until the truck hits the air brakes. At night it’s flaming loud.
I’m with Slick on this one, I would love to have one of these cameras installed on the highway near my house.
One just went past and i crapped myself!.. There are no hills that large to use them, And the road is pretty straight. They just got to slow down a bit more..
Lets petition for one of these in our areas.
Anti-spam word: Hyundai
Excellent idea. It will be great to know owners of cheap cars with 4 inch exhausts (and presumably cheap body kits with aeroplane sized spoilers) have to dig deep in their pockets.
Bugger the truckies, make sure they ping those Harleys with open exhaust, they are dangerously loud. Seriously if one of those idiots opens up right next to your ear it can physically hurt and damage your ear. Plus why can they have open pipes but not V8’s???
Whay are they targeting trucks? I know compression braking is noise but is is hard to bring 60 tonnes to a halt. My old man is a truck driver and he said people have complained to him before about the noise, all he can say to that is that if he didnt have the compression braking he would have killed himself or someone else by now because he wouldnt have been able to stop the truck.
Smacks of another way to raise revenue to me. Frankly if you live/chose to live next to a freeway/highway then I frankly cant see what you are complaining about. I used to live 100 m from the old highway in Albury, and you get used to the noise or you move. It is your choice.
The Harleys are not allowed to have open pipes anymore then the next vehicle, but it does not stop you fitting them and running the risk of getting pinged for it.
Gents,
I concur with what Glen has said. The EPA needs to monitor this.
They are a blight on our roads. A general nuisance, too.
Cheers,
Stephen
Can we get tailgating cameras too? What about a road rage camera? Or keep left cameras? Or cameras for driving too slow? Where does it end? Common courtesy and common sense should prevail here, are we so arrogant and ignorant to others around us that we create opportunities for local and state governments to raise revenue?
Its just not cricket, Its un Australian.
If we are going to fine anyone it should be neighbors who have ridiculously loud parties.
Unfortunately it won’t stop the feral Harley culture, they’ll just keep riding around on those pusbuckets with no baffles! Bawwwwahhhhh…
VW Freak,
Don’t worry, they are shooting each other into extinction.
Honestly we must have one of the worst Govt in the world…
This is about about getting more tax out of our small population to try and compete on a global scale with countries 10 times our size.. Just a clever indirect tax.
Ask yourself where this ends… Once a precedent is established it goes further next time..
Remember, ‘THOSE THAT SWAP FREEDOM FOR SECURITY, END UP LOSING BOTH’
Okay what happens if for example the RTA in their “infinite wisdom” decide to install one of these cameras near the Tunnel on General Holmes Drive at Sydney Airport and a truck or car drives by at the same time a Boeing 747 or Airbus A380 takes off/lands in the background?
Sure the computer system may be able to isolate and distinguish certain sounds etc.. but unless it uses a decibel-o-meter to record it against than it is purely subjective.
I say this because when I was living in Sydney I was pulled over by a cop near Penrith who said that my car stereo was too loud.
I said it can’t be that loud as I could still hear what he said. He then went on about noise pollution & safety. I then asked if he had any way of measuring how loud it is and he said no.. which proves it was merely his opinion – either that or he hadn’t met his quota for infringement notices for that day
Because just as they use a breathalyzer to determnine whether or not a driver is drunk and if so by how much they need a similar system to test how loud a car/truck is and let people know what the acceptable limits are..
Otherwise given the general poor level/standard of driving in Australia you could be forgiven for thinking everyone was drunk
For fark sake….more bullsheet rules and regs for the road and more money making for the government. It is getting to the point where driving for the sheer pleasure of it will no longer exist. This country is turning into a farking communist country…..fark the governments i say….given me the sheets…
I agree Mat. its like when the govt compensated those who bought a house under the flightpath/near sydney airport.. unless they bought the house before 1788 they should not have received any compensation – because the airport was there before they were they knew it was there when they bought the place.
And I suspect that most people who live on or near a Highway/Freeway are in a similar position.
This country relies on road transport and we have to be able to get our food and produce to market; natural resources to the port for export as weel as our imnported electrical/furniture items to the shops somehow and I don’t think a corolla is powerful enough to pull a 30 tonne trailer…
Sure trucks make a bit of noise when slowing down when going doen hill.. what do you want them to do? have a top fuel dragster parachute attached to the back
Ingenious how these boffins find new ways of raising revenue for the state…
this country is in serious need of a revolution so that some sanity can prevail
Great move, as long as it doesn’t ping a Ferrari or Lambo opening the taps – thats music, not noise. Also agree that those oinks on Harleys are way too loud and seem to use the open pipe’s noise as yet another way of intimidating ordinary people. Harley riders -wankers all!
I dunno about you guys, but if I had a motorcycle I would want it loud enough so car drivers know I’m there.
I often see drivers change lanes and almost take out a motorcyclist, because they were blissfully ignorant of the fact that there was someone there.
Its an arfarst attempt by the NSW gummint to try and appease the greenies.. Not only that but NSW is broke [all the "profits" from the Olympics gone] and they gotta raise the money needed to stage the V8 race around Olympic Park somehow – an event which they reckon will be better than the Clipsal [yeah right]
Two points:
1. They need to raise more money and put it into education: Name (required) @ October 22nd, 2008 at 11:44 pm is proof of that.
2. These signs requesting some “care and consideration” from truck drivers have been around a long time. Obviously they have been ignored to the point that enforcement is necessary – whos has themselves to blame hey??
I was under the impression that if a vehicle such as a ferrari came from the factory and made a lot of noise that it was not illegal?
I don’t think it would be as unsophisticated as just having a decibel meter? Surely it would be a speciality device designed to single out the sound of air brakes…
If I am wrong, what a gay addition at tax payers expense. Ironically we are paying for the things that will get us a fine, it’s expensive enough to own, fuel, register, insure and maintain a car/truck as it is.
I can sympathize with people that live near a freeway though, most of the time the roads don’t require the air brake but they are speeding so they have to use it.
But honestly Hydundai’s, Motorbikes & Crappy Lancer GSR’s with 5 inch exahusts are what tick me off.
what about the bloody mining train that past Wolli Creek station every hour or so????
Its like an earth quake????
The Government does not care about the very loud sound of the Train in Residential Area??????
Its all about raising profit only isn’t it?
One that defines Aussies, is the term “Laid Back”.
Now that national Past-time comes bak to bite us on the arse.
Both sides of Gov’t continually add these Big Brother measures to monitor & tax us all.
NSW is lousy with Fixed Speed Cameras, & yet the road toll continues to rise, as does the tax revenue.
Now this!
Is there any possibility they could photgraph the wrong vehicle? Virtually guarranteed I’d say.
And I bet we all do nothing about it.
I’ve seen articles on Drive.com.au suggesting they are testing GPS linked speed limiting devices in NSW.
Made me laugh. If every vehicle is fitted with one of those, there would be no speeding fines at all, & therefore no revenue.
I’m sick to death of the Guilty Unless You can Be Bothered To Try To Prove Yourself Innocent methodology employed increasingly in Australia.
Especially when it only enriches the Gov’t, & doesn’t seem to make the roads safer, or in this case, quieter.
Gents,
I concur with Bret’s first point. I think that we need to fix our education system first!!
Does ‘Name(Required)’ ride a Harley? (Lots of noise for men with little ..cks)
Cheers,
Stephen
Good fine the noisy farks especially on farkin Harleys!!!!!
Sometimes I get the urge to run straight over the top of em.LOL
…..and those little dicks with the blow off valves etc too.
This could only have come from the fertile mind of a beauracrat.
The problem with beauracrats is that they don’t eat their young.
+1 Realcars… You hit the nail on the head, lets get these selfish anti-social bastards off our roads..
Half of you people buy a house on a main road and complain about trucks, live near the airport and complain about noisy planes… live near a train station then whinge about trains… who gives a crap about a little noise… go live in the country if it’s such a huge issue to you..
Rules… laws… yeah let’s have more of them to destroy our freedom so we can all live like puppets.. There was once a saying… Australia is a free country… PFFFT… NOT
How many times have you been nearly hit by a push bike, tram or Toyota Prius, becuase they dont make noise.
Loud pipes save lives, mine, certainly on motorcycles,(although I agree the harley drone is a bit annoying) Where you have blind motorist try and run motorcycles off the road, changing lanes running lights, turning in front of you and all the rest an exhaust note make them pay attention.
I have classic cars that are not required to meet DB laws how does this cover me off? Also I was pinged for noise and made to pay and take a DB test with my dead stock current model car, it passed JUST under the DB limit and NOTHING had been modified, go figure.
I agree with Mr Sensible revenue raising is king.
Get rid of the push bikes off our roads or at least register and licence the riders them so they can start paying for benefiting from our taxes