Got a loud pipe? Government reveals plans for sound ‘snooper’ tech trials in the UK to target noisy vehicles

Road users who breach legal noise limits could end up with fines if trials of so-called ‘acoustic camera’ technology is successful.

This news comes from the Department for Transport which has said that it will test the noise-detecting ‘cameras’ in a variety of locations around the country over the next seven months.

According to the DfT, the move has come about after pressure from campaigners in rural communities who complained about the increased noise from road users who had ‘modified their vehicles’.

The tech works in a very similar way to how a speed camera is triggered except that ‘noise cameras’ use a microphone to trigger a camera to take a photo of the offending vehicle. According to the Government, the noise level which will trigger the camera is yet to be decided.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling (nicknamed ‘Failing Grayling’ in political circles after a string of high-level failures of policy which include Probation Reforms, Justice Policies overturned, train timetables collapsing and handing a £14m contract to a ferry firm with no ferries – he’s reckoned to have cost the country a staggering £2.7bn in gaffs and payouts, a figure obtained by the Labour party) told the BBC that the cameras could help to combat the fact that police resources are too stretched for officers to easily enforce noise regulations on: “Boy racers in souped-up vehicles.”

He added: “This technology could provide an alternative to make sure those communities are protected against excessive noise, that the people who are acting illegally are prosecuted… it’s a simpler, easier way of doing it.”

The British arm of motorcycle manufacturers, the Motorcycle Industry Association’s Chief executive Tony Campbell said: “Motorcycle manufacturers accept that they have a role to play and I think you’ll see it more difficult to start tampering with vehicles in the future.”