Noise limits for cars could be lowered in the interest of public health, under a draft law introduced by the European Parliament this week.
Currently, all cars are limited to 74 decibels, but the new legislation would see that limited lowered to 68 decibels. 'More powerful' cars would, however, be allowed a margin of between an extra two and six decibels.
The reasoning behind this is that, apparently, "Persistent exposure to high levels of traffic noise can prove physically draining, disrupt organ functions and contribute to cardiovascular and other diseases." Who'd have thunk?
Now, we don't want to get into a big debate about the relative merits and disadvantages of Britain's membership of the EU (after all, if you have strong views either way, you'd probably already be voicing them on the Daily Mail website), but we can't help thinking that this seems rather pointless.
For starters, new cars are unbelievably quiet -- with some cars you really have to listen carefully to discern whether the engine is on or off. Because of this, we can't really see how the introduction of any new legislation is going to improve public health.
Secondly, the most annoying type of noisy car -- the Renault Clio 1.2 with the bean tin exhaust -- has recently been allowed a stay of execution by Brussels, with laws banning car modifications postponed until further notice. Of course, we don't support the idea of banning car modification, but it would be funny if all of Britain's chavs were forced to return their farting little hatchbacks to standard spec.
So, do you agree with the proposed noise legislation, or is this another case of EU meddling?
