Article | REF: BR2056 V1

Road vehicle noise and road traffic noise

Authors: Louis-Ferdinand PARDO, Fabienne ANFOSSO LÉDÉE

Publication date: April 10, 2016, Review date: December 9, 2020

You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed? Log in!


Overview

Français

ABSTRACT

Road traffic noise is the predominant source of noise in Europe, exposing the largest number of people to excessive levels night and day. Regulations governing noise emitted by vehicles were for a long time the only regulatory tool. They were later extended independently by regulations enabling a more comprehensive approach to the environmental management of road noise. This article deals with regulatory and normative tools concerning road vehicle noise. It considers methods and solutions currently used or under development. All the sources contributing to road traffic noise are also described to highlight the difficulty and the need to take a comprehensive approach to reducing noise pollution.

Read this article from a comprehensive knowledge base, updated and supplemented with articles reviewed by scientific committees.

Read the article

AUTHORS

 INTRODUCTION

Road noise is a proven environmental nuisance. It affects people's health, is a source of annoyance and social inequality, and costs society dearly. Road traffic is the most widespread source of noise in Europe, and the one that exposes the greatest number of people to excessive daytime and night-time noise levels. This is true throughout Europe and France, and concerns both urban and rural areas. As a result, French and European public authorities have been working for several years to regulate the various components of road noise.

Regulations on vehicle noise go back a long way, and have long been the only means of limiting road noise emissions: the first European legislative text dealing with noise from road vehicles dates back to 1970, and concerned the exterior noise level of motor vehicles with at least four wheels. Since then, this text has undergone a number of changes, notably in terms of authorized limit levels, and the regulations have been extended to tractors and two- and three-wheel vehicles, as well as to equipment that could potentially cause noise pollution, such as horns, replacement exhaust systems or alarms.

In parallel with this work on vehicle noise emissions, more recent and independent global regulations on environmental noise management, including road noise, have emerged. These are complemented by standardized calculation and measurement methods for the various components of road noise.

This article provides an overview of regulatory methods for measuring vehicle noise levels, and the impact of these regulations on the annoyance they cause. It begins with an overview of the regulatory context for road noise and vehicle noise, followed by details of the various components of road noise and how they are modeled. The article goes on to describe the methods used for vehicle noise certification, and the various indicators used. The fifth section analyzes the various levers for action on vehicles and road traffic as a whole to reduce noise. This analysis finally puts into perspective the difficulty and necessity of achieving a global approach to noise reduction.

You do not have access to this resource.

Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!

You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed? Log in!


The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference

A Comprehensive Knowledge Base, with over 1,200 authors and 100 scientific advisors
+ More than 10,000 articles and 1,000 how-to sheets, over 800 new or updated articles every year
From design to prototyping, right through to industrialization, the reference for securing the development of your industrial projects

KEYWORDS

state of the art   |   Exterior noise   |   environment   |     |   Acoustics   |   Road vehicles


This article is included in

Noise and vibration

This offer includes:

Knowledge Base

Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees

Services

A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources

Practical Path

Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills

Doc & Quiz

Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading

Subscribe now!

Ongoing reading
Vehicle and traffic noise