Paris launches first noise radar in bid to quiet streets

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PARIS — The French capital inaugurated its first noise radar on Monday as part of a plan to fine loud motorcycles and other vehicles.

Installed high on a street lamppost in the 20th district in eastern Paris, the radar can measure the noise level of moving vehicles and identify their license plates.

Paris deputy mayor David Belliard said in a tweet that this was “for our health and quality of life.”

“Too much noise makes people sick,” he said.

In the next few months, the city will test whether the radar can unequivocally identify the license plates of roaring motorcycles or cars, after which the equipment will have to be officially approved by authorities by the end of 2022.

No fines will be issued for now, but Paris plans to start fining from early 2023, while the government deploys more noise radars in other French cities and tests out procedures for automating the fines as part of a 2019 mobility law.

Caught in the act

Under existing legislation, authorities can already sanction owners of noisy vehicles, but police need to have the necessary equipment and catch the driver in the act.

The new system will work like a speed radar, with automated fines.

“The problem is that police often have other things to do,” said Fanny Mietlicki, head of the Bruitparif agency which has pioneered the noise radar technology.

Other noise radars have already been installed in the Ile-de-France region around Paris and in the cities of Nice and Lyon since late January. On Tuesday, a second noise radar will be installed in western Paris.

A study last December by Money.co.uk showed that Paris was one of Europe’s noisiest cities, with over 5.5 million people exposed to 55 decibels or higher of traffic noise.

This compares to 2.6 million people in London and 1.7 million people in Vienna and Rome.

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