- Title: Shh...Paris suburb pioneers "noise radar" to fine roaring motorcycles
- Date: 30th August 2019
- Summary: VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI, FRANCE (AUGUST 30, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NOISE RADAR ON LAMPPOST AT ROUNDABOUT VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI MAYOR, DIDIER GONZALES, ARRIVING ON SQUARE WHERE NOISE RADAR IS LOCATED (SOUNDBITE) (French) VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI MAYOR, DIDIER GONZALES, SAYING: "Today, this radar is equipped with a kind of camera which regularly records images. But the idea of course is to pair this video surveillance (with the noise level), which we have here in town and which will allow us to know exactly who is making the noise and to know exactly what their trajectory is. So they will be perfectly identified with all the elements, the image and the sound, at a very precise level." SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS NOISE RADAR (SOUNDBITE) (French) VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI MAYOR, DIDIER GONZALES, SAYING: "The most significant noise, which is the one will we be preoccupied by, the one that is above a certain level, is harmful to your health because this is what it's all about (health). And actually, the World Health Organization has taken on the issue of noise and today we know that noise is harmful to our health." MOTORCYCLE ON ROUNDABOUT NOISE RADAR ON ROUNDABOUT PLANE IN SKY / NOISE RADAR ON LAMPPOST GONZALES SHOWING REPORTER MAP OF PARIS AND ILE-DE-FRANCE REGION WITH NOISE POLLUTION VARIOUS OF SOUND GRAPH RECORDED BY NOISE RADAR MOTORCYCLE DRIVING IN STREET SIGN FOR VIDEO FINE TRAFFIC ON ROUNDABOUT (SOUNDBITE) (French) 66-YEAR-OLD VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI RESIDENT, ESTROPE BLAISE, SAYING: "It's very, very good because there are some motorcycles and cars who do it on purpose (make noise), some big motorcycles, some small ones and cars." VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF POLICE STATION (SOUNDBITE) (French) 29-YEAR-OLD VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI RESIDENT, LILA OUDAHMANE, SAYING: "We don't live far from the Orly airport and so indeed there is a lot of traffic on this roundabout and it's good to make out the noises so we can see how far the sound travels because it's quite important for us residents of Villeneuve-le-Roi." PLANE IN SKY PLANE IN SKY WITH NOISE RADAR ON LAMP POST
- Embargoed: 13th September 2019 17:58
- Keywords: noise radar noisy motorcycles residential neighbourhoods Villeneuve-le-Roi decibel levels
- Location: VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI, FRANCE
- City: VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AUEU62V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Motorcycles thundering through residential neighbourhoods, revving their engines and waking up every child in the street, may soon be a thing of the past in France.
A Paris suburb is trying out a new system that can identify noisy vehicles, pinpoint their location and automatically ticket them.
The device, which the mayor calls a "noise radar", has been installed on a lamppost in the centre of Villeneuve-le-Roi, a town next to Paris Orly airport.
It will be activated as soon as a new government draft law permitting such systems is passed, said Mayor Didier Gonzales. The town will link the sound recordings to police CCTV cameras and automatically issue tickets to offenders.
The draft law, expected to be voted on this autumn, will allow local authorities to experiment with systems to record and fine riders who exceed noise limits. France already has legislation limiting vehicle noise, but it is hard to enforce as it relies on police catching offenders individually.
The new device, developed by Bruitparif engineers, has four microphones that measure decibel levels every tenth of a second and can triangulate where a sound originates.
It displays a picture of an acoustic wake as a trace of coloured dots behind a moving source of loud noise, such as a souped-up motorcycle.
Nearly 40 of the devices have been in operation for several months near busy bars in Paris entertainment areas, and another 17 have been installed at major building sites, Bruitparif director Fanny Mietlicki said.
Bruitparif is now beginning to track vehicle noise and also installed one in Saint-Forget, a hilly rural area near Paris popular with motorcyclists. In September it will install two in central Paris.
So far, the system is in trial mode only and no fines have been issued, but Villeneuve is in contact with the transport ministry to activate it as soon as the new law is passed. The government plans a two-year try-out period to test technology and define the noise levels that will trigger fines.
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