Installation of a noise detector.
© dpa
Vehicles driving along Kurfürstendamm in Berlin are regularly louder than average.
This is the interim result of an eight-week research project in which a noise detector has been in use near the Gedächtniskirche since the end of May. By July 4, it had recorded 1144 cars and motorcycles that were louder than 82 decibels. This was announced by the Senate Department for Transport and the Environment on Friday.
The values for normal road traffic are significantly lower. The vehicles recorded by the noise detector were traveling at an average speed of 44 kilometers per hour and a so-called sound pressure level of 86 decibels. As part of the research project in cooperation with the Technical University of Berlin (TU), which will continue until July 27, the Senate Department for Transport is conducting tests on Kurfürstendamm to determine how many particularly loud vehicles are on the road there.
The noise speed camera is equipped with several microphones and can be used to determine which cars or motorcycles make significantly more noise than others. The technology reportedly only determines the source of the sound in research mode, but does not record owner data or faces. The results of the project are to be incorporated into the new Noise Action Plan for Berlin, which is expected to be published in July 2024.