Wolverhampton MP wants help to find noisiest streets in boy racer crackdown
An MP wants streets in the Black Country that are blighted by boy racers to be put forward for a trial of roadside "noise cameras".
The Department for Transport has launched a competition to find areas that are badly impacted by excessively loud cars and motorbikes to take part in a trial of the new noise-detecting devices.
Wolverhampton South West MP Stuart Anderson has urged people in his constituency to suggest areas where the cameras should be installed as part of a clampdown on anti-social drivers.
Mr Anderson said: "Excessive noise pollution can cause a real misery to local communities, resulting in children struggling to get a good night’s sleep and hard-working people’s lives made more stressful.
"I welcome the roadside trials of these acoustic cameras, which will help to ensure the worst perpetrators of urban road noise are stopped in their tracks.
"I invite all constituents to let me know where the new technology should be piloted so that we can together reduce the noise that fellow residents are exposed to and better address the impact of it on our city’s health, wellbeing, and natural environment."
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the £300,000 trial would help “banish the boy racers” who blight communities.
Announcing the competition, he said: "We want those in Britain’s noisiest streets, who are kept up at night by unbearable revving engines and noisy exhausts, to come forward with the help of volunteer areas to test and perfect the latest innovative technology."
The cameras can detect and identify vehicles exceeding the legal noise limit by using automatic number plate recognition, before sending real-time reports to police.
Ministers hope the evidence compiled can lead to more targeted enforcement in the worst affected areas.
John Stewart, chair of campaign group UK Noise Association, said: “For many years we have had complaints from residents about excessively noisy vehicles.
“They will all be hoping to prove that their street is one of the noisiest so they can get the first batch of cameras.”
To suggest pilot areas email stuart.anderson.mp@parliament.uk by May 20.
