After speeding, holding the phone to your ear or even wearing seat belts, the government could well go on the hunt… for noise. Indeed, new radars designed to measure noise pollution have already been tested in some French cities.
While radars capable of detecting the number of passengers in cars are due to land soon in France, other radars never seen before could also appear on the side of French roads.
Moreover, you may have seen them while driving in Paris, Nice, Toulouse, Bron, Saint-Lambert, Rueil-Malmaison or even Villeneuve-le-Roi between January and October 2022. At the same time, difficult to miss them with their unique design (a large antenna lined with sensors and cameras), very different from more traditional radars.
Currently at the prototype stage, these radars are currently being developed by several French organizations and companies, including Bruitparif, the Noise Observatory in Ile-de-France. As you will have understood, these radars are not intended to track crazy drivers, but rather to measure noise pollution.
Also read: Anti-pollution radars will be installed in low-emission zones from June 2024
Speed cameras to track noisy vehicles
For two years now, the Ministry of Ecological Transition has been looking for technical solutions to carry out automatic checks of vehicle sound emission levels. The Bruitparif sound radar, the Hydrais well on its way to certification.
After a first phase of successful experimentation between January and October 2022 to analyze the performance of these radars, a second test period, with verbalization this timeshould begin soon (once approval has been obtained).
Vehicles that exceed the applicable limit of 80 decibels may be penalized by a 4th class fine, if one refers to article R318-3 of the Highway Code. Either a fixed fine of 135 eurosreduced to 90 euros in the event of payment within 15 days.
On the way to certification
As Bruitparif points out, at the end of this new trial phase, a complete evaluation and a report will be drawn up by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. If they prove conclusive, the sound radars could be deployed more widely on French territory. For the curious, the Hydra is composed as follows:
- two acoustic devices called Méduse composed of four microphones, to calculate the sound levels and determine the angle of origin of the noise
- a 180° wide-angle camera to photograph the scene at the time of the offense
- two cameras dedicated to automated license plate reading front and back
Pending this possible spread of Hydra radars on French roads, devices are tested in other major European cities such as Berlin, Geneva or even Brussels and Barcelona.
Source : The Internet user
