State governments across Australia are poised to deploy noise cameras. NSW firm Acoustic Research Laboratories’ fully automated noise analysis system uses a set of microphones and cameras that continuously record and analyze activity on a neighborhood street. A computer program isolates trigger sounds from general background noise, records a 10 second clip of the offender, coordinates with automatic number plate recognition software and voile! A traffic citation to passing vehicles that exceed a predetermined noise threshold. Once configured, the machine can generate up to 10k tickets (before the on-board hard drive is filled.) According to the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) Annual Report, systems are active in the small New South Wales suburb of Mount Ousley. The agency is looking to expand coverage. Meanwhile, South Australia and Victoria have begun similar programs focusing on the noise of heavy commercial truck compression brakes. The ticketing system could be easily expand to issue citations for loud subwoofers, noisy exhausts or even an inopportune horn honk. Or just listen in.
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I’m definitely in favor that. I wish they would get them here and issue tickets for noisy leaf blowers and subwoofers.
I think I like this one also, although it would make legal inroads to other surveillance. Sub woofers, Harleys, pickups with straight pipes, and the of course the Fast and The Superfluous.
Just cannot imagine driving a Harley with straight pipes for hours on end. Do they wear ear plugs?
I wonder if they could be used to bust teenage keggers? That would make them worth it for me.
I think that several European cities were to have programs in place to deal with noise levels. It’s a good idea, because the low-grade problems caused by noise pollution (sleep deprivation, stress) are shallow, but omnipresent.
Ticketing is part of the solution, but so is effective urban planning–one would hope that the funds from this program would go into noise-mitigation public works.
I need some sort of “raygun” that would fry those boomer stereos as they drive by. I could hide in the bushes and do something for the common good… VBG!
Was once traveling on the autostrada when my FM stereo began transmitting a ghostly voice overriding my music. I realized that it was the truck beside me – he prob had the Italian equivalent to a CB radio strong enough to converse clearly with the space shuttle in orbit. Maybe that is what I need – something to cause a screaming terror to break out in those boomer stereos causing the driver to turn it off or risk blowing the speakers.
Invest in hearing aids – the current generation is going to need them.
Am curious how easily the noise camera can be fooled. Does the ticket get a sound track recorded with it?
I would love to give up my freedom for security! Get those boomboxes!
While we are at it, can we get a camera to ticket for excessive bling? it is distracting and when the sun catches it wrong, it blinds me when I’m driving.
Thanks!
It’s amazing how quick some commenters can be to favor such things as long as it’s someone else getting the ticket.
I have news for you. Greed is contagious, and once you let one of these systems go, there’s no stopping them. Cf. Great Britain’s SPECS3 plan that leaves no A-Road on the island outside ticketing range.
I guess I’ll have to can my Paul Hogan/McLeod’s Daughters image of the wild Aussie outback, and insert an image of the Ultimate Nanny State.
What is up with you guys ? Unable to hire real cops ?
So we have evolved from saving the children from red light runners to profiting from noisy vehicles. Progress as promised.
Silence is golden.
Invade my home, the one place where I can TRY to escape the noisy world, with your obnoxious unnecessaty noise (unmuffled exhaust, uber-noisy mega-decible “music” etc.) that indicates to me the noise creator desires attention form others, then do not be surprised if I am forced to repress the desire, the wish, that I had a rocket-propelled grenade to permanently obliterate the noise source.
Sigh…. if only dreams could become real.
In recent weeks I have been travelling a lot, and have noticed BIG differences in how noisy traffic is.
My home town, Frankfurt Germany: the police don’t give a damn, people honk their horns all the time, drivers are aggro.
Paris: honking is considered to be rude, the police are vigilant, traffic is surprisingly peaceful.
Tokyo: honking is considered to be rude, police are vigilant, and there is a lot of noise-reduction pavement on the streets. Very quiet, all things considered.
My point being: if you want a quieter town, police need to be on the case (walking!), and not just sitting in their cars. And city government has to take noise seriously.
Having said all that, I think noise cameras are a really bad idea. If you’re going to encroach upon civil liberties, then the justification should be that there is a serious and clear danger, and a lack of alternatives to address the danger. Clearly, there are better ways of preventing noise that are less big-brother statist.
As much as I’d like to nail noisy motorists (I HATE people who feel like their Harley Davidson isn’t complete until they rattle shop windows), I have to agree with RichardD – there is too much incentive to generate revenue, which is a slippery slope.
@Martin:
Hey! A fellow Frankfurter! Admittedly, I don’t have a car here, but when I am on the autobahn/in the city riding with a friend, I rarely hear a horn. And being American, I’m always a bit surprised at how aggressive German drivers are. That said, I hate how slow and dim-witted American drivers are.
And this is a horrible idea. What’s to stop some bored government worker from listening in to conversations? I think it’s even a bigger invasion of privacy than speed cameras.
here is a better article, with a bit more background and less hype
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/mt-ousley-camera-homes-in-on-noisy-trucks/1338480.aspx
Yeah, no potential for incorrect ticketing here. As others pointed out, what is the overriding protection of life, health, or property that these noise cameras protect?
matt: grüss dich!