WHO says tyre noise is a killer
European legislators are targeting noise when the rubber meets the roadOver one million lives are lost each year due to traffic noise, says the World Health Organisation (WHO).
And it's just not the sudden shock to the system when a Harley-Davidson blasts past that will bring the infirm to the very edge of mortality. No, something as apparently 'benign' as tyre noise also needs to be outlawed, says WHO, or at the very least reduced in its intensity.
Tyre noise is at its worst above 50km/h, apparently, but can make its presence heard in light vehicles from speeds as low as 30km/h.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has set limits for tyre noise, but the International Standards Organisation has noted in a press release that these limits place the onus on vehicle and tyre manufacturers; Western European road builders should also resurface roads for a quieter environment. Indeed, the ISO says that many Western European countries are already embarked on road resurfacing to reduce noise generated when the tyre makes contact with the road.
The ISO first published a standard for the measurement of road noise back in 1997, but has more recently developed a new protocol for testing tyre noise, ISO 11819-2, and tyre identification, ISO/TS 11819-3.
“We were developing the new ISO 11819-2 when we realized that we also needed to identify tyres correctly to give reliable and reproducible data, so we created ISO/TS 11819-3,” says Ulf Sandberg, ISO Project Leader for the new standards.
A third standard, ISO/TS 13471-1, was developed to allow for temperature variations when testing for tyre/road noise.
Sandberg says that “the new methodology [ISO 11819-2] is much more practical and easier to use, especially for long stretches of road”.
“The need to control road noise is getting more and more attention," Sandberg added.
"The European Commission, for example, now requires that member states regularly report traffic noise emission along major roads and that they develop abatement programmes if these are found to be excessive.
“The three new documents offer a solid toolbox for identifying the contribution of road surfaces to noise pollution.”
Imagine the cost to government at all three levels if such standards were to become law in Australia. There's a lot of coarse-chip bitumen out there…
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