Noise (dB)

Sound affects the whole organism. High sound levels can occur anywhere, but of course it is highest where there is a lot of traffic. Noise activates the nervous and endocrine systems. This changes blood pressure and heart rate. Stress hormones are released and affect the body's metabolism. This also happens during sleep. In short: too much noise triggers stress. Long-term consequences of chronic noise exposure can be cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks. But noise also affects wildlife. There, noise can make communication with each other, finding mates and food much more difficult.

Noise has long been one of the main causes of illness in France, along with poor air quality. It causes people's productivity to drop and costs to rise. According to estimates, this costs the French state up to 150 billion euros a year. Two-thirds of this is due to traffic, of which 55 per cent is road traffic, eight per cent is rail traffic and four per cent is air traffic.

For this reason, noise meters have already been installed in France at particularly polluted locations in Paris and seven other cities. But it will take some time before the noise polluters can be prosecuted. At first, the noise meters will only record and locate ambient noise every few seconds. Later, a camera will be added to detect the number plates. Only then will there be nothing standing in the way of handing out fines. In Nice, a different approach has been chosen. There, red warning signs light up when the noise level is higher than 90 decibels. Car and motorbike drivers are then asked to slow down.

In Austria, loud motorcyclists travelling in Außerfern in the province of Tyrol have already had to pay attention to the noise level of their vehicle since 2020. The reason for this is the complaints of local residents who complain that certain stretches of road are particularly popular for speeding. If a motorbike is now louder than 95 decibels here, a fine of 220 € must be paid. The first noise protection zone is a complete success and serves as a model for the whole of Europe. Hundreds of motorbikes have already been asked to pay. 

Other European cities have also had enough of the noise. In Amsterdam, as in Austria, the measurements are mainly aimed at motorbikes that are too loud, which repeatedly lead to complaints. But cars that are too loud are also to be identified and taken out of circulation.  In Germany, too, penalties for too loud engines are being discussed. It is probably only a matter of time before driving bans and noise protection zones for too loud vehicles are set up all over Europe.