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The noise tests that enable cars and bikes to be road legal are very specific drive-by tests. These could not be accurately replicated by a roadside device somewhere. So we cannot be talking about whether a vehicle is road legal.
What I assume is that someone wants to be able to catch those people whose use of their vehicle and the noise it makes would constitute anti-social behaviour. The problem is what level of noise is deemed to be anti-social?
For noise complaints submitted to councils they are usually looking for a noise level of 10dB(A) above the ambient sound for a prolonged period. However this is measured inside someone’s house, not by the roadside. What level of roadside drive-by noise would be considered to be too loud?
Considering that distance affects the volume of a sound the distance of the offending vehicle from the measuring device would have to be factored in. Also multiple vehicles in close proximity to each other could make quite a loud noise because the sound from each vehicle adds together, but how will the measuring device determine which bit of sound came from which vehicle? It can’t.
So the proposal is utter nonsense until such time as the vast majority of people drive electric vehicles. Then anyone driving something louder than a milk float can be prosecuted for disturbing the peace.
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