Noise pollution from roads is a serious and under-reported environmental problem. The din created by cars and motorbike exhausts with excessively loud exhausts isn’t just illegal, it’s a blight on countless communities up and down the country. And yet very little action is taken to curb this anti-social behaviour. Police can issue a modest £50 on-the-spot fine, but this kind…
In 1935, a young boy fishing in a pond at Swanwick, Hampshire landed eight 30mph road signs – roundels that had recently been installed across the country to enforce the new national speed limit. It’s not clear whether the vandal was caught, but nearly 90 years later a small group of motoring miscreants is back at it – this time…
New York is the latest city to fight back against the racket caused by cars and motorbikes fitted illegal aftermarket exhausts. Streets in Manhattan have been equipped with British-made SoundVue noise detectors that are triggered by 85 decibels from any source at least 15 metres away. Under New York’s Stop Loud and Excessive Exhaust Pollution (Sleep) Act, the drivers of…
When drivers question the case for 20mph limits, they risk overlooking the laws of physics. After all, it’s indisputable that the faster and heavier a vehicle, the more likely it is to cause injury or death in the event of a crash. It’s the reason the driver of a car who collides with a child is 7 times more likely…
The size of a standard car parking space may be about to grow to keep pace with the ever-increasing width and length of cars. The dimensions of a standard parking space were prescribed 50 years ago and over the last half century cars have become increasingly bloated. Safety features like side-impact bars have contributed towards the increasing size of cars,…
