Michael Dittrich (TNO) presented LENS research related to the „loud vehicle monitoring in four Dutch cities and mitigation options’ in mid-February during the 17th session of the ‘task force for vehicle sound’, as a sub-group of the ‘working party on noise and tyres’ of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva, Switzerland.
The presentation discusses the monitoring of loud vehicles in four Dutch cities and explores possible solutions to reduce noise pollution. It explains the cooperation among the assessed cities and the causes of increased noise impact, particularly from motorcycles, mopeds, and cars. The main causes of loud vehicles are driving behaviour and vehicle modifications.
Monitoring involved setting up measurement systems to detect loud vehicles exceeding 80 dB(A) along 50 km/h roads. Data analysis identified the noisiest vehicle types, such as high-revving mopeds, fast accelerating motorcycles, and cars and tampered vehicles with modified exhausts or backfiring. Particular vehicle brands were found to be most frequent, including relatively new vehicles.
Mitigation strategies include increased and improved enforcement, both roadside and periodic inspection, better communication with drivers and infrastructural measures such as speed and access restrictions.
The EU-funded LENS project contributes by identifying specific driving conditions and tampering methods of loud vehicles. It also assesses the impact of high vehicle noise levels and mitigation options such as managing driving behaviour, detection of tampering and improvement of vehicle regulations.
In a separate Dutch study, the feasibility of noise cameras in the Netherlands was investigated. It was concluded that these could help enforcement but require prior piloting, certification, adjustments to legislation and integration into the existing enforcement framework.
The presentation concludes with policy recommendations to address noise from loud vehicles in Dutch urban areas, which include improved enforcement of driving behaviour and vehicle condition, and established measures such as speed or access restrictions. Noise cameras for enforcement still require a number of steps for introduction in the Netherlands, but in analogy with speed cameras they could be an effective tool to reduce loud vehicle noise.