SOME months ago I wrote a column for your paper which lamented the growing trend for drivers, of two wheels or four, to rev up their engines and speed away from roundabouts and traffic lights, causing an almighty din, and indicating an apparent belief that an engine is not performing properly unless its revs are close to their maximum.
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My complaint was passed to the highway patrol, and when I called on the officer in charge he expressed sympathy and agreed that excessive noise breaches the Australian road rules but explained that the police can do little about the matter in the absence of decibel meters which measure the actual noise a vehicle is emitting, and thus whether the noise is indeed excessive.
At my request Andrew Gee wrote to the NSW Police Minister asking for our highway patrol to be issued with at least one decibel meter. The minister eventually made it known to the police that such meters would not be issued.
End of story? Not quite. The officer in charge of the Orange highway patrol has located an app for modern mobile phones which enable you to install a decibel meter on your phone. Highway patrol officers have now installed these apps.
Now I reach the point of this letter - to advise those who drive as I mentioned earlier in this letter that their noise levels can now be monitored and that breaches of the road rules constitute an offence.
Highway patrol officers have the authority to stop vehicles and check their noise levels.
So if the cap fits, wear it - you have been warned.
Tony Smith,
Orange
