On Monday, the city of Paris launched its first noise radar as part of a strategy to penalize loud motorcyclists and other vehicles in one of Europe’s noisiest capitals. The city put the first noise radar high on a street lamp post in the 20th district of eastern Paris. It can evaluate the noise level of driving automobiles and identify their license plate.
“Too much noise makes people sick. For our health and quality of life… this first sound radar aims to automatically issue fines for vehicles that make too much noise,” Paris deputy mayor David Belliard said in a tweet.
Fine implementation from 2023
The city intends to conduct a test of the radar’s accuracy. If or not it can reliably recognize the license plates of raging motorcycles or automobiles. By the end of 2022, the appliance will have received official authorization from powers. While the government deploys more noise radars in other French towns and examines procedures for automating fines as part of a 2019 mobility bill, Paris plans to start fining in early 2023.
Administrations can already compel penalties on owners of noisy vehicles under prevailing legislation. However, they must first acquire the crucial appliance and detect the driver in the act. The new technology will operate likewise to a speed radar, with penalties being issued automatically.
“The problem is that police often have other things to do,” said Fanny Mietlicki, head of Bruitparif agency that has pioneered noise radar technology.
However, according to research published in December 2021, Paris is one of Europe’s noisiest cities. Nearly 5.5 million people were facing noise issues due to road traffic noise of 55 decibels or greater. This is certainly huge in comparison to 2.6 million in London and 1.7 million in Vienna and Rome. Since late January, further noise radars have been fabricated throughout the Ile-de-France region around Paris, as well as Nice and Lyon. Moreover, the establishment of a second noise radar in western Paris is on the schedule for Tuesday.