this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
483 points (97.4% liked)

United Kingdom

4309 readers
97 users here now

General community for news/discussion in the UK.

Less serious posts should go in !casualuk@feddit.uk or !andfinally@feddit.uk
More serious politics should go in !uk_politics@feddit.uk.

Try not to spam the same link to multiple feddit.uk communities.
Pick the most appropriate, and put it there.

Posts should be related to UK-centric news, and should be either a link to a reputable source, or a text post on this community.

Opinion pieces are also allowed, provided they are not misleading/misrepresented/drivel, and have proper sources.

If you think "reputable news source" needs some definition, by all means start a meta thread.

Posts should be manually submitted, not by bot. Link titles should not be editorialised.

Disappointing comments will generally be left to fester in ratio, outright horrible comments will be removed.
Message the mods if you feel something really should be removed, or if a user seems to have a pattern of awful comments.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] obinice@lemmy.world 77 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Most motorists? Why is it only people who enjoy motoring that get a say in this? What about the rest of us?

I don't drive and I want them to crack down on those loud as feck vehicles, especially the dirt bike races they have regularly.

Loud as feckin hell.

[–] DarkThoughts@kbin.social 24 points 2 years ago

Car brain headline / premise. Of course only the opinion of motorists is actually valid, you poor jaywalking peasant!

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 years ago

I think the point is to show that even amongst their peers, people who love loud pipes are a minority that the majority would gladly see being stopped.

I agree now but I once was young and had a loud pipe on my truck and on my motorcycle (always with a catalytic converter though!), I think it's just a natural phase in the car person's evolution... Then you've got a bunch of Harley riders and Dodge Ram drivers that never grow past that phase...

[–] HeartyBeast@kbin.social 13 points 2 years ago

I think they were assuming that ~100% of non-motorists agreed

[–] Blake@feddit.uk 64 points 2 years ago (8 children)

Intentionally loud exhausts are obnoxious and selfish. As much as I dislike it, however, I'd far rather deal with the noise than having yet more surveillance. We're already the #3 most surveilled country in the world, only the USA and China is worse.

[–] Swarfega@lemm.ee 22 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Harley Davidson bikes are just noise pollution. Unlike cars they are build like this out of the factory.

[–] kenbw2@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

Yea to me it's not the volume of the engine/exhaust. It's that it's intentionally obnoxious

[–] LUHG_HANI@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

We may be number 3 but we must be number 1 in terms of % of people monitored by some form of camera. The USA road network is nowhere near as heavily monitored as the UK.

Driving through France, Belgium and the Netherlands was very free compared to the UK.

[–] burningmatches@feddit.uk 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

A taxi driver in Singapore once told me that they hold this title, ahead of the UK. He then pointed out the cameras on almost every lamp post.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Wanderer@lemm.ee 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

Electrics cars will make it a non issue but then we will be stuck with the surveillance. Our country is scary. No one cares.

Having said that if you are intentionally being noisy for noisy sake there should be harder punishments. Even lose your license for a bit, it's not a got given right to drive. You got to earn it.

All drivers should be considerate of others

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] PoopyInThePeePeeHole@lemmy.world 59 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Noise cameras? They're called MICROPHONES

[–] Codilingus@sh.itjust.works 21 points 2 years ago

But they need a camera to grab the license plate of the offending vehicle....

[–] sosodev@lemmy.world 17 points 2 years ago

I’m not sure if this a joke. Noise cameras are a real thing. They use an array of microphones to show which parts of an image are emitting sound and at what level.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 7 points 2 years ago

I read it as being a riff off of "speed" cameras, which are obviously cameras triggered by speed and not cameras that capture the concept of speed on film.

[–] krippix@feddit.de 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I think the cameras are supposed to be triggered by noise

[–] duncan@feddit.uk 40 points 2 years ago

I live in a city center, and frequently have loud cars drive past. Some are substantially worse than others. The loudest of them are so loud that when they go past I can't hear my TV for 30 seconds or so, and that's with my windows all closed and listening via headphones.

Something really does need to be done to enforce the noise laws that are often being ignored.

[–] AKADAP@lemmy.ml 24 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Some idiot is going to hang out near the camera with a boom box and play loud engine noises every time an electric vehicle drives by.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 22 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I'll take the loud cars if we can get some real fucking regulations on headlight brightness so I don't get blinded every time I drive at night.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 18 points 2 years ago (1 children)

There is already the regulation in the Highway Code:

114: "You MUST NOT use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users"

The "MUST NOT" indicates that this is a legal requirement and so it is a criminal offense to disobey it. Now if we could get the police to actually ENFORCE the legal requirements in the Highway Code, then maybe things might improve on the roads.

[–] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I mean if that's the case then they have to enforce it on the companies as well because in 2023 it's the default on many models on the road, not even with their brights or high beams on.

[–] theplanlessman@feddit.uk 6 points 2 years ago

Just went down the legislation.gov rabbit hole, and it seems there are regulations on headlight height and angle that have been in place since 1989, but unfortunately no maximum power or brightness restrictions.

Which means that although a driver could be fined for using excessively bright headlights, the manufacturer of the car could not be fined for making the car like that in the first place.

Perhaps if things like these noise cameras gain in popularity it will encourage the lawmakers to look at other issues like this one.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] bloopernova@programming.dev 21 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (18 children)

(Apologies for USA centric comment)

I think if that was proposed in the USA, people's heads might actually explode. When 2 roundabouts were put in nearby, some people acted like the UN new world order was on its way. I grew up in Basingstoke so I love roundabouts. Thankfully people have come around to the idea.

I'd support it just so my dog can walk near a road without some pickup gunning its engine as it flies past us. Any kind of traffic speed reduction is treated with fury over here.

People with loud pipes don't realize they look like a nobend and sound like this: https://youtube.com/shorts/s0xqopmjbSo?feature=share

[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I’m American and love roundabouts. I think my fellow drivers hate them because they require a small amount of thought and planning, which is too much to ask from your average American driver.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (17 replies)
[–] alchemy88@lemmy.team 21 points 2 years ago (7 children)

Its motorbikes round my way that are stupidly loud. Not even kidding you can hear some of them a mile away. I know this because I can see the road about a mile away and still hear them!

[–] lootgoblin42@kbin.social 7 points 2 years ago

South Park made a whole episode about these people.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] awwwyissss@lemm.ee 19 points 2 years ago

Do it! I hate loud cars. Noise pollution kills.

[–] mackwinston@feddit.uk 17 points 2 years ago (2 children)

All motorists are loud. Cities aren't loud, cars are loud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTV-wwszGw8

[–] Mex@feddit.uk 33 points 2 years ago (6 children)

some are a shit-ton louder than others though

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] DJDarren@beehaw.org 15 points 2 years ago

I've taken to muttering "There goes the Vroom Vroom Man in his vroom vroom" every time one of these pricks rumbles by. It solves nothing, but makes me laugh.

[–] Leviathan@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

I want headlight cameras to clamp down on idiots blinding other drivers with their brighter-than-the-Sun headlights.

[–] argv_minus_one@beehaw.org 13 points 2 years ago

So, now I have to choose which I dislike more: government surveillance spooks or jerks with loud engines? Jeez, that's a tough call.

[–] Pat@kbin.run 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Please. I live on one of the busier streets in my town, right by an intersection. The amount of people driving by with cars that sound like someone's farting through a megaphone are insanely obnoxious. Fuck, most the time they're shit boxes that go slower than normal cars. People in my area buy cheap, shitty cars, pay to have a falsified safety, then make them loud and obnoxious while slowing down traffic because their cars can barely accelerate.

[–] solivine@sopuli.xyz 11 points 2 years ago

Yes, this is something that's unfortunately necessary

[–] meldroc@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

On the bright side, at least you don't have coal-rollers...

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 9 points 2 years ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


The camera records an image of the vehicle and its noise level, creating evidence that can be used by police to issue fines.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: "Our research with drivers shows there is a very strong desire to put an end to the scourge of excessively noisy vehicles that disturb the peace all around the country.

"It's plain wrong that those who have fitted their cars with modified exhausts, some motorbike riders and supercar owners can currently just get away with making an unacceptable amount of noise.

"There is no good reason why cars and motorbikes should make so much noise, so the sooner effective camera enforcement can be put in place the better."

Roads minister Richard Holden said: "Boy racers are an anti-social menace and we have extensively trialled noise camera technology in various parts of the country over the past year.

"We are currently analysing data from the trials and will update in due course on any future measures which will help bring peace and tranquillity back to our towns, cities and villages."


I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Can't they just deal with it at the MOT?

Plus I'm pretty sure it would be pointless recording the noisy bollock whizzing up and down my road on his motorbike, because apparently number plates are optional when there's fuck all police about.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] G4Z@feddit.uk 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

You know at my old house there was an ice cream van that made my life mildly more irritating as his chimes were on ear splittingly loud (guy must have drove with earplugs), and frankly I'd have loved it if somebody would have actually enforced the law (there is actually a law for ice cream van chimes) and an automated system like this would be one way!

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] dBot@midwest.social 6 points 2 years ago
[–] RobotToaster@infosec.pub 6 points 2 years ago (3 children)

More surveillance is always bad.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] BrightCandle@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think this will solve itself as the electrical vehicle transition happens. Cars will become substantially quieter by default and at that point it will easy to adjust MOTs for ICE vehicles to meet more stringent noise levels.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›