Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Leefmilieu Brussel tested noise cameras to identify loud vehicles like motorcycles and sirens. The system alerts authorities for fines but legal changes are needed to enforce noise rules effectively.
Last year Leefmilieu Brussel tried out two new types of speed cameras that target noisy vehicles to combat noise pollution. These high-technology cameras have many microphones and cameras. The microphones listen to the noise made by cars passing by and the cameras take pictures or videos of the vehicles. By using both the system can spot and keep an eye on loud vehicles accurately. When a car is too loud the system sends an alert and takes pictures to check if it’s breaking noise rules. If it is they can give fines or warnings to the owner. This helps make sure people follow noise rules and make Brussels a quieter place.
What measures are being taken to address noisy vehicles in Brussels?
The goal was to find out which vehicles are the loudest. They found out that sirens and motorcycles are the main noisy ones.It has been said that this information can help the government make changes like making sirens quieter by 2025. They saw that speed affects noise a lot showing that keeping speeds low in the 30 zone is crucial. The government wants to use the cameras to catch people setting off loud fireworks but the law doesn’t allow it. They need to change the law to include noise violations. Even if they change the law the cameras might not be used soon because the technology still needs more work.
Stef Willems from road safety institute mentioned thast when cars go really fast it can make it hard for the noise detectors to work properly. These detectors check how much noise cars make to make sure they follow the rules. When cars speed up they get really loud with engine and tire noises. This can confuse the detectors because they might only work well in certain situations. So when a car is too loud due to speed the detectors may not give the right noise levels. This makes it tricky to enforce noise rules and keep cities quiet. He’s talking about those cameras in France that check noise from speeding cars. If a car goes super fast the camera can’t hear the noise. And if two cars go by at the same time the camera can’t tell which one is too loud. Willems thinks it’s better to try these cameras in small tests first like they did in France instead of buying them without knowing if they work. The Environment Minister Alain Maron didn’t say anything about whether they’ll use these cameras in Brussels. His spokesperson said that decision is for the next government in Brussels to make.
