Too much noise: Tyrol reaffirms ban on motorcycling
For many motorbike fans, riding on the winding mountain passes of Tyrol is an incomparable experience. But this year, riders of particularly noisy motorbikes will again be confronted with driving bans on certain routes. In this way, the region wants to bring noise pollution under control.
When it comes to seasonal traffic restrictions to relieve the environment and the population, Tyrol is certainly one of the Austrian provinces that makes most use of them. After all, the Austrian region is located at an important hub for the European continent's trade and holiday traffic - and carries many more vehicles on its roads every day than the authorities would like. The consequences, namely more emissions and more noise pollution, are ultimately well known.
It is precisely in this context that Austria introduced driving bans for noise protection during a political phase. A so-called noise protection zone was established in 2020 in Außerfern and driving bans for particularly loud motorbikes were issued for the Tyrolean districts of Reutte and Imst. These will also apply this year and the traffic of motorbikes with a stationary noise of more than 95 decibels will be restricted between 15 April and 31 October. It does not matter whether the motorbikes were registered in Austria or abroad.
The motorbike bans apply on numerous routes in Tyrol, such as the Lechtal road (B198) from Steeg to Weißenbach am Lech and the Tannheimer road (B199) from Weißenbach am Lech to Schattwald. Also affected are some sections of the L21, L72, L246, L266 and B179 roads. The Fernpass road (B179), on the other hand, remains unaffected by the driving bans. This is because - as the state government justifies its decision to continue to rely on noise-related driving bans for the coming years - 44 percent of the population there suffers particularly from the growing motorbike traffic and the corresponding noise pollution. Especially the high-speed driving and engine noise when accelerating or braking disturb the peace and quiet on the mountain and pass roads.
However, the residents of the area are not the only ones who have reason to complain. Indeed, anyone planning to travel by motorbike in Austria from April to October must adapt to the regulations and switch to quieter motorbikes. Violations would otherwise result in fines of up to 220 euros, leading to harsh criticism from many motorbike fans. Whether further driving bans for noise protection will come into force elsewhere in Austria is currently still open.
Also not to be forgotten are all the environmental zones already active in Austria - as well as in the rest of Europe. As always, all information is available on our website and in the Green Zones app.