Calgary cracks down on noise, measures motorcycle decibels
Posted July 26, 2012 12:06 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (NEWS1130) – It’s the sound of summer: Motorcycles roaring down city streets. But that might not be the case much longer in Calgary. The city is cracking down on noise pollution.
They are using something called a “noise snare.” It records the sound and video of passing vehicles.
Until July 31st, those caught making noise louder than 96 decibels get a warning in the mail. Greg Steinraths with the City of Calgary says after that, it’s a $200 ticket.
Steinraths is adamant this move is not about making money, but rather dealing with a public issue that seems to be increasingly reported.
“There’s the people who are very frustrated by the noise, people trying to be in their backyards having barbecues with their families,” explains Steinraths. “Then there’s the school of thought, for lack of a better term, the biking community, that says loud pipes save lives. There’s the notion that it’s a safety device.”
The device has not been without some issues; the warning period was extended after some technical glitches. Steinraths claims those have all been cleared up.
The noise snare is not costing the city anything. It’s on loan from the Alberta man who made it. Steinraths thinks up to two per cent of the city’s vehicles could get caught due to noisy mufflers and after-market adjustments to vehicles.
For now, Steinraths says Calgary is the only city to do this. “I think once we go live, once we get a couple cases through court… I think if it stands up in court, then you’ll see other cities adopt the process that we have.”
To bring this in, Calgary had to change by-laws to set a specific decibel level. Vancouver does not have set noise levels and our calls to the city do not indicate this is something they are pushing to bring in here.
