The Belgium has greatly increased its arsenal of means of control of the motorists in recent years. And it’s clearly not over yet. As it happens, a new breed of radar will soon be adopted. And these devices do not address the phenomenon of speed, nor safety distances or even less the use of cell phones while driving. Indeed, these radars track them down vehicles too noisy. Because high sound volumes are also harmful for health in general. And it’s not a joke: frequent noise episodes – especially when they are brutal – can cause stress, but also hypertension or cardiovascular problems. Noise would therefore also be the cause of many death every year, according to medical studies.
The noise problem is obviously not just Belgian. For example, the France is also on display and has just completed a test phase in Paris aimed at flushing out and fining motorcycles or vehicles that are too noisy. Of the January 2025vehicles which exceed the 85 dB at the sound level meter will receive a fine of 135 euros. With this level, it is mainly motorcycles which are affected by these radars, because few cars exceed this threshold. On the other hand, two-wheelers can easily exceed 130 dB. This is the noise made by a plane taking off. This means…
Belgium in the adoption phase?
Of the Belgian cities such as Brussels, Ghent, Charleroi, Namur, Antwerp, etc. also face these noise problems. And it is more and more frequent due to urban rodeos which are becoming widespread.
Some regions have therefore decided to crack down and explore the French model. And the tests have already taken place, as Gocar discussed last year. Thus, according to our colleagues at SudInfo who had an exchange with Brussels-Environmentwe see that the importance of the noise is directly linked to the speed. If we take the example of Avenue Louis Bertrand in Schaerbeek (30 km/h), it appears that almost all of the vehicles measured remain below the French limit of 85 dB. This would also be due to the speed reductionassure the authorities who are pleased to have revised the maximum travel speeds downwards.
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The tests carried out also revealed that the levels above 90 dB are essentially the fact mermaids intervention vehicles, motos or vehicles with mechanical problems, but also heavier vehicles. Those weighing more than 5 tonnes are in fact significantly noisier.
Soon in office?
Should we therefore expect that the sound level meters will soon come into action and that the bad students will be also fined in Belgium ? Actually no. Or at least not right away. Indeed, the Brussels Region indicates that fining motorists or other road users for noise remains complexbecause the sound level meters must be installed far from a facade to avoid the reverberation while there is no such thing among us either legislation relating to noise, as in France.
That said, it is perhaps only a postponement, because Brussels and Wallonia will continue to explore the sound footprints of automobiles and the study being carried out today could well lead to the establishment of means of repression in the medium term. This is what was discussed during a conference, according to SudInfo. The track is therefore serious. And it’s not just Brussels or Wallonia that are thinking about it. There city of Ghent has also been conducting tests on automobile noise pollution since September 2023.
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