New draft regulation to ban loud cars and motorcycles in Bucharest during nighttime

Bucharest City Hall recently introduced a draft set of regulations aiming to decrease the amount of noise produced by traffic in the city. The project provides for the prohibition of the nighttime circulation of cars and motorcycles that produce noise above 95 decibels.

The measurement of the noise produced by the vehicles participating in the traffic will be done by the Traffic Police and the Romanian Auto Registry, based on the protocol already concluded between the two bodies. The same institutions will run programs aiming to inform car owners in Bucharest of the new regulation.

The circulation of cars and other vehicles that are louder than 95 decibels would be permitted only between 8:00 AM and 21:59 PM. Those who break the new regulation on nighttime noise will face fines up to RON 5,000 (EUR 1,000), according to HotNews.

The initiator of the draft is Bucharest City Hall’s Environment Directorate. Representatives of the institution argue that the noise produced by road traffic is the most important source of noise pollution in Bucharest. The Directorate estimates that over 700,000 inhabitants of the capital are affected by loud cars during the nighttime and that the normal limits of noise are routinely exceeded on 59 of Bucharest’s streets.

There are 12,419 buildings in Bucharest in areas with nighttime noise beyond 60 decibels. Noise beyond this level generates discomfort, disturbs sleep, impacts mental health, work productivity, the learning process, and social behavior, induces stress, and can cause chronic fatigue, insomnia, or cardiovascular diseases.

(Photo source: Calinescu Silviu | Dreamstime.com)