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The Problem In New Zealand
What is the current law?
In short,
NZ does not currently have a standard, nationally applied, objective test
(at WOF stage) for vehicle noise. It is left up to the
subjective assessment of the enforcement authorities,
being the WOF testing stations and the Police.
An objective test
means there is a pre determined criteria which must be met. For noise, it is a
sound measurement threshold that cannot be exceeded. If the noise does exceed
the threshold, it is illegal.
The law in NZ is that a
motor vehicle must be fitted with an exhaust system that is in good working
order, which is defined to include some means of sound attenuation in
other words, there is currently no set criteria at all. This was
introduced by the Labour Government in February 2005.
Modified Vehicles
You can modify
the exhaust of a vehicle after purchase. The only requirement is that the
modified exhaust is not noticeably and significantly louder than
the noise from the original manufacturer's equipment. This is the subjective
test. In other words, it is up to the individual considering the exhaust noise
to somehow judge whether the noise is noticeably and significantly
louder than the original version. This is difficult to do and produces widely
different results. This is also relatively new law (February 2005),
although it is the continuation of old LTSA policy. It clearly does
not work. You can hear that on the streets every day. No Government agency has
been able to tell the New Zealand public what might be an unacceptable
noticeable and significant increase in noise. The law is "unique" to
NZ.
Parliament's Regulations
Review Committee agree that "the present approach of dealing with noisy
exhausts does not work well in practice." Their full report,
following submissions from Noise Off, can be viewed from the link below.
Full report of the
Regulations Review Committee
Objective Noise Testing
From July 19 2006, limited objective testing has
been introduced. The subjective test (of "noticeably and significantly louder")
continues. If the vehicle fails that subjective test at WOF stage, the owner can
either fix the exhaust or pay to have an objective test done. There are only 9
objective noise test locations for the whole country (the main urban centres)
and one mobile sound level meter for other areas when required.
Noise Off
critique of the Government's "interim" regime
Noise Off
believes that the situation
which has been allowed to develop in NZ is extraordinary, unacceptable and must
be changed. A small minority of motorists who like to have noisy exhausts, for
no reasonable purpose, should not be permitted to seriously disrupt the
quality of life of thousands of New Zealanders.
What can the Councils do?
There is nothing your
local council can do about vehicle noise. It is a central government issue.
The law (Resource Management Act) requires councils to prevent unreasonable
noise from properties, but they cannot control vehicle noise from the
roads.
This produces some truly
stupid consequences. For example, the Christchurch City Council District Plan
sets the upper noise limit for permitted activities in a residential area at
41 dB(A)
(decibels) at night.
That noise limit is measured from the boundary of the property. However,
a car can drive past your home and produce exhaust noise measured from inside
a bedroom, double glazed and shut, at up to 66
dB(A)
or more! That is over 4
times louder than the Council Plan allows from a private property. This is a
true example, read an independent expert's report at the link below. The
District Plan, in this example, is not much use to anyone.
Stuart Camp's (acoustic expert) evidence to the
Regulation Review Committee
Understanding how sound is measured
World
Health Organisation
The World Health
Organisation Guidelines say that for good sleep, sound level should not exceed
30 dB(A) for continuous background noise, and individual noise events exceeding
45 dB(A) should be avoided.
The World Health Organisation Guidelines
What can the Police do?
Operating a noisy vehicle
The Police can issue an
infringement notice for $250 for "operating a vehicle that creates noise that,
having regard to all the circumstances, is excessive", which is an offence. 10
demerit points will also be imposed. This is the main and most commonly used
enforcement tool available to Police.
If you accumulate a total of
100 demerit points or more in any two year period, your license will be
suspended for 3 months. (s90 Land Transport Act 1998)
(s 40 Land Transport Act
1998 and regulation 4 Land Transport (Offences and Penalties) Regulations 1999
create this infringement offence and set this penalty. Breach of the above Rule
(which is Rule 7.4(1) Land Transport Road User Rule 2004 (61001)) is a "summary
offence" and any charge may be commenced by laying an information under the
Summary Offences Act 1957. The maximum penalty on summary conviction for an
individual for this offence is $1000.00. A person may either be proceeded
against summarily for the alleged offence or be served with an infringement
notice by the Police).
Breaches of the exhaust rules
The Police can also "green
sticker" a vehicle that breaches the "exhaust systems" rules. (The relevant rule
is contained in the Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Equipment 2004 at 2.7). A motor
vehicle "must be fitted with an exhaust system that is in good working order"
(which means it must "include some means of sound attenuation"). In addition,
"noise from an exhaust system must not be noticeably and significantly louder
than it would have been when the motor vehicle was manufactured with its
original exhaust system".
A Police officer who
believes on reasonable grounds that a vehicle does not comply with the rules may
"green sticker" the vehicle, which directs that the vehicle is not to be driven
on a road until the vehicle has been made to comply with the rules and new
evidence of vehicle inspection has been issued for the vehicle by a vehicle
testing station. (s115 Land Transport Act)
Links.
How are other countries dealing with the exhaust
noise problem.
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