Noise cameras could be introduced in Sydney to detect loud vehicles

Noise-detecting cameras could become a new addition to Australian roads to stamp out hooning, drag racing and reckless driving.

The security cameras track vehicles generating loud noise, which can come from exhaust systems, engines, horns, brakes, sound systems or screeching tyres.

The devices capture the vehicle’s licence plate, with the owner of the car issued a fine if it’s found that it had breached noise restrictions.

The City of Bayside in Sydney’s southwest may be the first council area to trial the cameras in the country.

It follows a spate of reckless driving and deaths resulting from high-speed crashes in the area.

Alina Kauffman, 24, and her brother Ernesto Salazer, 15 were killed when the driver behind a Mercedes allegedly sped down a road before smashing into the vehicle they were in at Heckenberg last Friday.

Late last month, Xavier Abreu, 10, and his brother Peter, nine, died when the Subaru WRX they were in slammed into a tree on Grand Parade in Monterey.

The driver Jimmy Martin Brito, 33, has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death and one count of causing bodily harm by misconduct. 

Bayside mayor Dr Christina Curry said the local community ‘have had enough’ and wants to set up the cameras.

‘Council is very supportive of trialling the noise cameras,’ she told 9News.

‘We are prepared to try anything.’

There is no set date for when the cameras will be rolled out.

The cameras will be used to stamp out hooning, drag racing and reckless driving (stock image)

The NSW Environment Protection Authority is determining whether to approve the use of the cameras.

Noise cameras have already been used and trialed in the UK, the US and Israel. 

NSW drivers can currently be fined up to $600 for excessive noise.