Why UK Noise Cameras are a Good Idea but Also a Bad Idea

Anti-noise cameras are a new type of UK road camera that can detect vehicles with illegally loud exhausts. Here's why we think this is a good & bad idea.

British automotive services company RAC recently conducted a questionnaire between 9-18 December 2022. In this survey, they asked 1,424 drivers whether or not they supported the use of 'noise cameras' that can detect very loud exhausts and fine drivers. 

In order to save you time searching for the RAC questionnaire, the results of it are below.

So as you can see, the majority of drivers who participated in the survey voted in favour of noise cameras. Now, this is an extremely tiny minority of UK drivers (0.004% to be exact), so we wouldn't pay much attention to the result. But it did make us wonder about whether or not the result would be replicated across the entire country had every UK driver taken part in it.

What exactly are noise cameras?

If you haven't heard about these cameras yet it's because they are brand new to our roads. In essence, the cameras use multiple directional microphones that are able to pick up and pinpoint loud or noisy exhausts from any kind of vehicle including cars, motorcycles, vans or HGVs. 

The cameras begin a recording if they detect an exhaust louder than a 74-decibel legal limit. The recording captures the driver's details like the licence plates and the vehicle is then identified by the local police and sent a fine accordingly.

Last year trials began in Bradford, Great Yarmouth, Birmingham and South Gloucestershire. The DoT (Department of Transport) has been analysing the results of the trial but so far there is no response on whether or not they are going to roll these noise cameras out to the rest of the country.

Why noise cameras are a good idea

They aren't! Just kidding. Okay, so there are a few reasons why noise cameras may be a good idea. 

Strategic placement

So far the trials have had cameras placed in small and quiet villages with 30 mph zones. To us, this represents a good start. There is little reason to speed or be in 1st gear and bouncing off the rev limiter in 30 mph zones where schools, churches and other busy public zones are placed.

Reduce noise pollution

Again, this pretty much relates to the quiet village and town areas. Excessive noise from loud exhausts can impact the life of residents living nearby. Many people do not want to hear a straight-piped Golf R whizzing past a row of houses in a 30 mph zone at 2 am in the morning, speaking from experience here.

Better road safety

Not all cars sound great at 2k revs. If you want to really hear a car, you have to get it to the upper echelon where the engine is screaming. Honda's VTEC engines like the older EP3 Civic Type R; you need to get the thing above 6k RPMs to really hear the engine screaming at its best. 

This is where the car is at its peak torque, which makes it fairly dangerous to do this in built-up public areas and it's far easier to lose control.

Why noise cameras are a bad idea

Strategic placement

Just as I mentioned slower 30 to 20 school zones above, there is little reason to have noise cameras in areas away from public zones. I'm talking about NSL (National Speed Limit) B-Roads, single and dual carriageways and motorways. There are fewer people and infrastructure in these places to protect so it would be absurd to erect noise cameras here, apart from giving the local council/police force another form of income. 

Subjectivity and accuracy

Measuring noise levels accurately could be challenging due to variations in ambient noise and environmental conditions. For whatever reason, it's possible a car might sound louder or even quieter than usual. What if a plane is flying overhead at the same time? Or a train passes on the nearby tracks? Or there are loud roadworks nearby?

Unintended consequences

Lots of vehicles have naturally loud engines and exhausts. To pluck an example out of thin air, a W204 Mercedes C63 has a monstrous-sounding V8 engine and exhaust even without modifications. If lots of these noise cameras pop up across the country, drivers who bought their cars to enjoy will simply not be able to drive them properly.

This is even more egregious to us because drivers are already paying a high amount of road tax on large engines. The C63 above is around £800 per year thanks to its 6.3-litre powerplant. Now they have to be worried about being fined just because their engines are loud? 

Resource allocation

There are simply more important things to worry about right now than spending millions on noise cameras. With the 2030 new vehicle ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) ban looming, surely the Department of Transport and local councils should be worried about the UK's charging infrastructure.

As it stands, the website INews reports that the "UK is set to miss the target on charging stations by two decades despite the plan to ban new petrol cars by 2030". 

Linking into that, sales of EVs (electric vehicles) have never been higher thanks to government incentives. With so many EVs on the road now and the population growing per day, surely these noise cameras will become redundant just as fast as they are put up.

Enforcement challenges

Enforcing fines for loud exhausts is never going to be simple. Most performance cars have flaps inside the exhausts to switch between quiet and loud. And even cars that don't come with them as standard, they're not difficult to be added as an aftermarket option. 

If drivers know they are coming to a zone where there are noise cameras place, a simple flip of a switch will ensure they pass by without any issue. Then a mile down the road they switch their exhaust back to loud mode and continue on with their day.

Public perception and backlash

As mentioned above about strategic placement; the general public will be very aware of a system that feels like it's trying to fleece them to generate revenue, as opposed to actually addressing noise pollution or road safety.

I don't think many drivers will take issue with noise cameras in smaller villages, residential and school zones. But many drivers will take issue with noise cameras placed on B-Roads in the middle of nowhere and where the council and police know drivers 'give it the beans'. 

If many louder car drivers have to avoid certain built-up areas due to noise pollution then it can't be helped. But any attempt at fleecing the UK's already frustrated drivers thanks to the increase in speed cameras and Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ) will not go down well.

Final words

In conclusion, the idea of 'noise cameras' that fine drivers with loud exhausts will involve striking a balance between addressing noise pollution and road safety concerns while considering potential drawbacks and challenges from all kinds of vehicle drivers. 

Any such system would need careful planning and consideration of its impact on drivers, communities, and the overall transportation ecosystem.