Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, is determined to banish 'boy racers' after concerns were raised over motorists revving engines.
The £300k trial for these innovative noise cameras will be able to detect which vehicles are breaking the legal noise requirements, with four areas taking part in the trial in hopes to help police gather evidence of the noisy drivers in action.
The cameras are able to automatically detect when the vehicles break the legal noise limits, and will issue real time reports of these instances to the police. The preliminary testing of these cameras also showed that the technology was able to identify vehicles in certain circumstances and assign noise levels to them.
The trial will be conducted over a period of time in hopes to take a highly targeted approach to reducing anti-social driving and to ensure tickets are only sent to drivers with illegal and anti-social cars or bikes.
Exhausts and silencers are required to be properly maintained, and not altered to increase noise. Non-compliance of this can lead to a £50 on-the-spot fine.
Whilst this new noise technology can be used at known hot spots for excessive noise, it remains to be seen whether it will encourage 'street racers' to find another street with no cameras to continue their activities.
The noise cameras are already used by Westminster Council in the areas around Waterloo Place and Exhibition Road, in response to long-term problems with dangerous driving , such as cars performing loud doughnut manoeuvres in the early hours of the morning.
The Department for Transport are not proposing to reduce speed limits to cut background noise for communities located near major roads.