The effectiveness of European regulation for vehicle noise control

Abstract

Europe is changing its regulation on the noise emitted by vehicles because the European community realized that noise levels on streets and in buildings are higher than expected. There are many possible reasons for this public health problem, among others: the growth of the vehicle fleet and the inefficiency of the type of approval method. In response to this problem, the ISO 362-1 has been revised, and now vehicles are tested under less severe conditions but, in the light of the driving habits in the urban centres, experts say this new procedure is more realistic than the previous one. However, on critical analysis, one can find some points, such as the lack of importance given to the engine cooling system and the way in which urban buses are assessed in the same way as delivery trucks, among other points that may annul the effect of this new European proposal. Vehicle manufacturers hope that ISO 362-1 will be adopted by as many countries as possible around the world, in order to reduce development costs, but some weak points may make its acceptance by other countries' governments difficult. Many countries around the world are facing the same environmental problem faced by Europe, and they need to improve their legislation on vehicle noise control, but some experts are not fully convinced as to the environmental benefits of this new method and tend to adopt other methods, considered more effective, which can be a problem for vehicle manufacturers, due to the final costs of vehicles. This study seeks to discuss some of these points of possible improvement and show what it is possible to do to arrive at an effective global method to produce