I have a new neighbour 3 doors up and he has a customised Impreza. Now when he starts engine it is left idling for a while before he drives away. Both whilst it is idling and driving, the noise it makes is ridiculous. You can feel it vibrate through the house, it is enough to waken you.
This is exhaust / engine noise, not radio!
Is there rules on how noisy cars can be?
|
Yes, there are. This is from the Reigate council web site,
It is possible that noise from car exhausts could constitute a statutory nuisance within the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 - but this is unlikely. The primary legislation aimed at dealing with such noise is the Motor Vehicle (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.
These regulations lay down maximum permitted noise levels from exhausts and the regulations are enforced by the police and the Vehicle Inspectorate.
Other legal provision which may be applicable are common law nuisance and section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Both of these allow individuals to take their own legal action and may offer a more speedy remedy than we can offer using our powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Under some circumstances the activity may be controlled by an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) which can be obtained from a court by the Community Safety Department or the Police.
However, it should be noted that ASBOs can only be granted by a court all other appropriate legal channels have been tried by the local authority and have failed.
If your concern relates to exhaust noise from a neighbour's vehicle (rather than an unknown person regularly using the road by your house) we would advise you to speak to your neighbours in the first instance. They may be unaware of the degree of disturbance they are causing.
|
|
|
|
yep - check with your local council website on noise nuisance. Been there, a guy four doors away had a 'turbo saver' on his. This device allowed him to park up and lock the car and the engine would keep running until the turbo had cooled down then it would switch itself off. Usually took 3 minutes of the loudest idling rumble ever.
|
|
|
Maximum permitted noise levels for motor vehicle (Passenger Transport of less than 9 seats including driver) in type approval tests is 74dB(A) according to 81/334/EC. Based on directive 92/97 EC.
|
i assume the guy is unaproachable so yes complain to the council
bare in mind it will probably be taken up by a 19 year old yuth with spots who will tell your neighbour it was you that compained
therefore ideally let your immediate neighbours know your not happy as well and see if you can stooge one of them into complaining for you
this way they get the eggs on the windows instead of you
good luck..............honestly no bull
|
and there's this if you're in Scotland...
tinyurl.com/2p7vhw
|
One can understand people wanting their rapid pet to make a special noise but very loud exhausts are anti-social. Most modern cars don't make much of any noise at all, and what noise they do make tends to be a bit flatulent and boring.
It's possible, if your car has an engine capable of sounding good, to find an aftermarket exhaust that will make the most of it without an unholy clamour at idle or at moderate throttle openings. But the more civilised exhaust systems cost, er, more as a rule.
|
Its unfortunate because even at stock those cars are noisy. Unless he changes his car i doubt you will get much luck.
Even an Audi RS4 you pay 60k for has the same problems
|
|
Does an RS4 have a very noisy idle OldSkoOL? Fairly discreet I wd have thought. Nice little rasp as it punts up the road.
|
the RS4 doesn't have a loud idle at all. Give it some stick and it sounds like a NASCAR race meeting has just arrived.
Regarding the Impreza why not just enjoy the flat four burble, it's really a quite unique noise. He obviously leaves it idling to cool down the turbo and I can imagine it's annoying but I don't imagine whining about it is going to get you very far. On the other hand the Police seem to prefer this type of easy catch to catching proper criminals so why not give them a try? If he has an illegal plate as seems likely with the type of guy who owns a modified Impreza perhaps they can do him for that as well. Probably doesn't have a cat on it either- hang him high!!!
|
There are a few boy racer Imprezas round our way and the noise made by the less well silenced ones is horrible - they just sound like a souped up Vectra firing on only 3 cylinders!
Some noisy cars just have defective silencers but most are deliberately made noisy by their thoughtless owners. Boy racer Corsas, Saxos or whatever make a horrible exhaust noise anyway so I can't see what the attraction is.
Some enthusiasts are stirred by the sound of a thundering V8 or a growling 'six' but really to most people all noisy cars are just a nuisance so these are still anti-social. I quite like heavy metal music but I don't like it when it's coming from a neighbour's house and I want peace and quiet. Same goes for noisy cars.
Don't even get me started on noisy motorbikes - we are plagued by screaming superbikes on the by-pass and buzzing CVT mopeds whose teenage riders insist on making fake gearchanges around town!
|
Don't even get me started on noisy motorbikes - we are plagued by screaming superbikes on the by-pass and buzzing CVT mopeds whose teenage riders insist on making fake gearchanges around town!
Yet interestingly, the rozzers and the MOT people are much stricter with bikes than with cars. Most people I know with a loud exhaust can on the bike have been pulled over at least once for it, and no bike MOT station I've seen will pass an excessively loud exhaust, or anything stamped "not for road use" or similar. I've seen Corsas and Saxos with industrial bean can exhausts pass police cars without an eyelid being batted.
Even among bikes, the law is not enforced fairly. Open "Screaming Eagle" pipes on Harleys which set car alarms off are rarely targeted by the police, but sportsbikes that even look like they're not sporting standard kit are routinely tugged. I guess a V-twin doesn't annoy people like a screaming four.
I have the best of both worlds on the bike. A BSAU stamped (legal) exhaust which is quiet on idle and light throttle, but has a backpressure controlled ball valve which opens a "straight" path through at high revs. I can start it at 5am without waking anyone, but still enjoy the scream out on the open road.
|
|
Leaving a car engine running without the driver sitting behind the wheel is illegal, so is that noisy exhaust. Report the owner and get that thing off the road.
|
Thanks for your replies and yes, I am in Scotland, although that article quoted further up in the thread I think was only in the news for a couple of days and then never seen or heard of again!
Have decided that as they are newly moved in, I will give it a couple of weeks to see if I get "used" to it, or less annoyed by it. If not, then I will go to Council / Police. Don't think there is any point in going to the guy personally, that is the noise his car makes. Don't think if I approach he will say "sorry mate" and go and trade it in for a 1.0 Fiesta or whatever!
|
|
I'd rather hear a noisy exhaust for a few minutes than one of those constantly barking dogs. Fortunately I don't suffer either where I live. We do have church bells, but I'm used to them and don't "hear" them any more...
|
I'd rather hear a noisy exhaust for a few minutes than one of those constantly barking dogs. Fortunately I don't suffer either where I live. We do have church bells but I'm used to them and don't "hear" them any more...
It's amazing what you get used to after a while....... when i bought my house next to a main through route, some years ago, having moved from a very quiet flat....i sat in the garden and thought 'what a mistake'.....after 2 weeks i'd forgotten about the traffic noise, it didn't even register.
|
Leaving a car engine running without the driver sitting behind the wheel is illegal so is that noisy exhaust. Report the owner and get that thing off the road.
Only on a public highway surely?
|
No, it's illegal to leave a car running "unattended". There are some legitimate reasons for not actually being in the driver's seat:- making engine adjustments, checking an exhaust leak, opening a gate, posting a letter, etc.
|
Where I used to live there was an a car with an antisocial exhaust with a very large-bore backbox and tailpipe. One evening, some of the younger kids from nearby houses were playing in the street with a tennis ball, and do you know what - by an astonishing accidental coincidence, the tennis ball went up the tailpipe and plopped irretrievably inside the backbox.
Well that's what I heard, anyway.
|
In all honesty, you?ll get used to it.
I used to rent a house 100 yards away from the Midland Mainline railway track. InterCity 125s would pass at 100mph (ish) every 30 mins; interspersed with the "slow" trains in between them. Guests used to comment when the house started shaking and there was the horrid noise but after just two weeks I could sleep with the windows wide open in the summer and I wouldnt even notice them going passed.
Before that I used to live 100 yards away from the local fire station. I was only woken once by their sirens in the whole two years I lived there; and that was because my car was on fire outside my house!
If it still bothers you in a few weeks, report him: if he leaves his car idling unattended, he is braking the law. Report him for that and mention the fact that you think his exhaust is too loud at the same time.
|
|
There is a railway near our house and we get a lot of noise from trains, which I don't mind EXCEPT that there is a short section of worn old clickety clack track that hasn't been replaced by welded track and the train wheels make very loud noises as they go over the joints.
|
|
