TechEnvoke
Although you are cameras aware that you are being watched at the airport, a bank, or a government office, the scope of the monitoring goes far beyond. Depending on where you reside, the government may be monitoring you as soon as you leave the house. For a list of the top 10 American cities under surveillance, tap or click here.
Traffic cameras have been taking pictures of cars and registration plates for years. You may be caught using them if you are speeding, going through a red light, or operating an unregistered car.
Sound metres that capture the loudness of passing cars have been introduced as a new function to speed cameras by legislators.
Here’s the backstory
Cities have noise regulations, and violations can result in fines for everything from noisy parties to excessive construction noise. Many locations also have jurisdiction over automobiles.
If your automobile is overly loud, you could potentially get stopped and given a penalty. Police measure the noise coming from your exhaust using a decibel metre. These noise laws mostly target modified automobiles.
In order to “enhance enforcement against motorists and repair shops that unlawfully modify mufflers and exhaust systems to make them excessively noisy,” the Stop Loud and Excessive Exhaust Pollution Act (SLEEP Act) was passed last year.
A trial programme was launched last year in New York City, which has tough noise ordinances, to use traffic cameras fitted with sound metres to monitor and ticket noisy motorbikes and vehicles.
According to the Associated Press, loud cars may face fines of up to $800 for disobeying the rule. And it only applies to the first infraction. If the driver disregards the third violation hearing, the fine increases to $2,625.The sound-measurement cameras have so far captured at least 71 drivers.
Are they coming to your city?
Even while this initiative is now being implemented in NYC, who’s to say that other cities won’t embrace it if they discover a benefit? Drivers are concerned that traffic cameras may unaltered take pictures of noisy automobiles.
Some drivers add aftermarket components to their vehicles, which increases the noise level to the point where it may endanger the hearing of others around. But is increasing monitoring and surveillance the answer?