New Noise Cameras Pit Drivers of Fast Cars Against Their Neighbors

Traffic police deploy new technology—and steep fines—to combat roaring mufflers, revving engines and blaring stereos

By Scott Calvert of The WSJ. 

This seems like a good example of negative externalities. Hard to tell if the policies to deal with it make sense. What price tag should we put on noise?

Excerpts:

"Noise cameras are the new frontier in automated traffic enforcement. Growing numbers of agencies across the U.S., from New York to Hawaii, see them as a way to combat revving engines, blaring stereos, honking horns and earsplitting mufflers—some illegally altered.

For police, public officials and residents, the machines partially solve a perennial top complaint, particularly during warmer months in spots like Newport, where throngs flock to the Gilded Age mansions, music festivals and the bustling colonial waterfront."

"To critics—some who refuse to pay the tickets—the devices are another step toward a surveillance society and can unfairly ensnare drivers simply going about their routines in street-legal vehicles."

"Noise cameras are a recent import from Europe, first appearing several years ago and now spreading."

"Newport . . . gave every officer a handheld noise meter, with minimal success."

"Some motorists dinged by Newport said that doesn’t describe them. Pat Morganti, a dentist from Warwick, R.I., got a $250 ticket when his Corvette Z06 hit 84.3 decibels one morning. He said he was on a main road heading to a patient at a satellite office.

“It’s got a pretty obnoxious engine, but that’s the way the car is made,” said Morganti, 63, who reluctantly paid the fine."

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