Ottawa councillor considering sound cameras to deal with ‘grotesquely’ loud vehicles

A modified muffler of a luxury car. (Pexels)

An Ottawa city councillor says the city should look into whether sound cameras could be used to deal with what he called “grotesquely” loud vehicles.

Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron on Thursday that he spoke with councillors in Toronto when he was at Queen’s Park recently, including one who brought forward a motion to have her city study the idea.

“It’s a real problem and it’s beyond just annoying,” Hill said. “There’s something that needs to be done, especially to the folks who just very deliberately modify their system so that it’s grotesquely over the sound (limit). I’m not talking about a little bit of revving going down the street. I’m talking about going way over the top.”

Toronto city council adopted a motion on Wednesday that called on staff to explore the idea of using automated sound cameras to crack down on excessive noise from vehicles. Hill said Ottawa should consider looking at the same thing.

“I had a conversation with the company that does our red-light cameras and they have the same technology to do sound and I’d very much like for us to enter into a pilot (project),” Hill said. “Stunt racing in Toronto, stunt racing in Barrhaven, it’s endemic across the province and we do need to do things in order to stem it.”

Last year, Edmonton city council approved a $50,000 project to use cameras and microphones to crack down on noisy drivers.

The City of Ottawa’s noise bylaw does include a provision against “unnecessary motor vehicle noise” and the Ottawa Police Service does issue tickets for excessive noise and improper mufflers.

The cameras, however, would be automated — snapping pictures of vehicles once a certain noise level is reached — and would not require an immediate police presence.

Hill said he believes the Ontario government would be more amenable to automated sound cameras, as opposed to the automated speed cameras that were deactivated provincewide last year after Premier Doug Ford called them a “cash grab.”

“It is different technology; it provides a different function,” he said. “I know it can look and smell a bit the same, but it’s not at all the same. I do think common sense can prevail.”

Hill said the city still needs to do some homework on the idea.

“I think there is a pathway that we could get to something that would pilot a proof of concept and we can go from there,” he said.

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App