New York Is Now Using Cameras With Microphones To Ticket Loud Cars

If you live in New York and drive a loud car, you could receive a notice from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection telling you your car is too loud. Not because a police officer caught your noisy car, but because a computer did. Road & Track reports: A photo of an official order from the New York City DEP was published to Facebook by a page called Lowered Congress on Monday, directed at a BMW M3 that may have been a bit too loud. The notice reads as follows: “I am writing to you because your vehicle has been identified as having a muffler that is not in compliance with Section 386 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, which prohibits excessive noise from motor vehicles. Your vehicle was recorded by a camera that takes a pictures of the vehicle and the license plate. In addition, a sound meter records the decibel level as the vehicle approaches and passes the camera.”

The order goes on to tell the owner to bring their car to a location specified by the DEP — a sewage treatment plant, to be precise — for inspection. Show up, and you’ll have the opportunity to get the car fixed to avoid a fine — much like California’s “fix-it” ticket system. The document also informs the owner that if they fail to show up, they could face a maximum fine of $875, plus additional fines for continuing to ignore the summons.

A New York City DEP spokesman confirmed to Road & Track via email the system is part of a small pilot program that’s been running since September 2021. From the description above, it sounds like it works much like a speed camera that automatically records a violation and sends it to you in the mail by reading your license plate. Instead of a speed gun, this new system uses a strategically placed sound meter to record decibel levels on the road, matching it to a license plate using a camera. […] The program will be reevaluated on June 30, according to the DEP. From there it’ll likely either be expanded or taken out of commission.