The Local Police has begun this week, through a campaign that has been launched by the Department of Traffic, surveillance controls on public roads on vehicles that exceed the noise limits allowed.
The inspections are carried out alternately in terms of places and time periods in order to reduce noise pollution levels in the municipality of Totana.
Although the campaign to report excess noise in road traffic is aimed at all vehicles, agents focus controls mostly on motorcycles and mopeds with the free or stubbed exhaust pipe.
The objective of the campaign is to make the owners of these vehicles aware of the need to maintain noise emission levels, within the limits established in the regulations, thus avoiding producing harmful effects on the people who support it.
Every vehicle with mechanical traction must have the engine, transmission, bodywork and other parts of the engine in good working condition, capable of producing noise and vibrations, and especially the exhaust gas silencer device, in order that the level sound emitted by the vehicle when the engine is running, do not exceed the limits established by the Municipal Ordinance for the Protection of the Environment against the Emission of Noises and Vibrations.
In the aforementioned ordinance it is forbidden to force the marches of motor vehicles producing annoying noises such as unnecessary accelerations, forcing the engine on slopes, the circulation of motor vehicles with the so-called "free escape", or with non-effective, incomplete, inadequate silencers or damaged, or with resonator tubes.
It is forbidden to use speakers, or any other acoustic signal, which will only be justifiable in exceptional cases of immediate danger of accident that cannot be avoided by other systems, or in the case of emergency public services (Police, Fire, Protection Civil and Healthcare) or private services for the urgent help of personnel.
It is also forbidden to operate the music equipment of the vehicles at a high volume, with the windows open, which may cause discomfort to the population and produce unnecessary noise due to misuse or violent driving of the vehicle, even if they are within the limits maximum permissible.
All moped drivers and other motor vehicles are required to submit them to the noise control tests for which they are required by Local Police agents.
In case of refusal, the corresponding complaint will be made.
The maximum permissible limits for noise emitted by motorcycles and mopeds with the engine running will be between 77 and 82 dB (A), depending on the displacement.
The agents of the Local Police, in the preventive controls to be carried out, will stop every vehicle that, according to a first assessment, clearly exceeds the allowable emission limits, being able to proceed immediately to check the emitted sound level.
If the level exceeds the established limits, it may be immobilized, with transfer to the workshop designated by the interested party, where it will remain until the deficiencies that motivated the inspection are remedied, in addition to the retention of the immobilized vehicle documentation.
In this case, after the repair, a new verification of the sound emission levels will be carried out for which the owner will have the obligation to present the vehicle at the determined place and time, this term being never greater than ten days.
All this regardless of the instruction of the corresponding sanctioning file and the payment of the fee for the corresponding crane service, according to the applicable Fiscal Ordinance.
In any case, the measure taken by a station of the Vehicle Technical Inspection (ITV) network will be considered valid.
If once the vehicle's sound emission levels have been submitted, inspected and measured, they do not exceed the limits established in this Ordinance, the complaint will be filed and the holder will be authorized to drive with the vehicle, while simultaneously retaining the documentation withheld .
The amount of the sanctions of the possible sanctioning files that are opened for the infractions that can be committed, will range between 200 euros and 6,000 euros depending on the seriousness of the infraction, the damages caused to third parties, as well as its repetition by Part of the responsible people.
Finally, the recommendation that is launched is that if your motorcycle or moped have a high level of noise, you should pass a review for the adaptation and improvement of the decibels emitted, in order first to avoid the penalty and secondly and not least, avoid noise pollution to which citizens are subjected to this type of excess noise.
