Sound cameras could be introduced in Sydney to detect loud vehicles
Sound-detecting cameras could become a new addition to Australian roads to eradicate hooning, drag racing and reckless driving.
The security cameras track vehicles generating loud noises, which could be from exhaust systems, engines, horns, brakes, sound systems or screeching tires.
The devices record the vehicle’s license plate number, and the car owner is fined if found to have violated the noise restrictions.
The town of Bayside in southwest Sydney may be the first council area to trial the cameras in the country.
It follows a spate of reckless driving and deaths from high-speed crashes in the area.
Sound cameras could be introduced on Sydney roads that track vehicles generating loud noise
Alina Kauffman, 24, and her brother Ernesto Salazer, 15, were killed when the driver behind a Mercedes reportedly drove across the road before crashing into the vehicle they were in at Heckenberg last Friday.
Late last month, Xavier Abreu, 10, and his brother Peter, nine, died when the Subaru WRX they were in crashed into a tree on the Grand Parade in Monterey.
Driver Jimmy Martin Brito, 33, has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving resulting in death and one count of causing bodily harm by misconduct.
Bayside Mayor Dr Christina Curry said the local community has ‘had enough’ and wants to set up the cameras.
“The Council is very much in favor of testing the sound cameras,” she told 9News.
“We are willing to try anything.”
There is no set date yet when the cameras will be rolled out.
The cameras will be used to stamp out hooning, drag racing and reckless driving (stock image)
The NSW Environment Protection Authority determines whether the use of the cameras is approved.
Sound cameras have already been used and tracked in Britain, the US and Israel.
NSW drivers can currently be fined up to $600 for excessive noise.