Edmonton councillor pushing for crack down on extremely noisy vehicles

An Edmonton city councillor is pushing for a crack down on noisy vehicles like trucks and motorcycles without mufflers, saying they sound like “some kind of dysfunctional mating call.”

Ward 6 city councillor Scott McKeen hears — and “hears” is the operative word — that police have a reliable new system to monitor vehicle noise. He launched, at city council, a formal inquiry to have that technology used to crack down on extremely noisy vehicles.

READ MORE: Is your ride’s roar too loud? Edmonton police can help find out

The inquiry comes after McKeen checked on advancements in how to get a read on how loud things can get.

“The technology to monitor sound is coming down a lot in price,” McKeen said after Tuesday’s council meeting where he made the request. “So it’s pretty easy to do that to start with.”

“Then with that information we’ll be able to be build some countermeasures. Some of that is going to be communication. Apparently, Australia did a really good campaign a few years ago that tied vehicle noise to manliness, or a lack thereof.”

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READ MORE: ‘It certainly is loud’: Province moves up noise study on SW Anthony Henday Drive

He figures he’ll get complaints, after striking a nerve that’s been bugging him since his days as a newspaper columnist.

“To me it’s some kind of dysfunctional mating call that some men use, driving through the downtown suggesting that they are available for reproduction. I think it’s kind of sad. Really. I think we need to recognize it’s a bit pathetic.

“When you have a diesel truck and you’ve removed the mufflers from it so you can sound like a 747 or something, it’s ridiculous.”

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It could be worse, he concedes, only by nice weather. The snow we’ve had has kept a lot of windows shut, offering some relief to residents.

“I always remember hearing from a couple, empty-nesters that had moved in from St. Albert, into West Oliver, along Jasper Avenue. They said they were done. They couldn’t do it any more. The vehicle noise was such that it was disrupting their sleep, disrupting their lives and to what end?”

READ MORE: Spike in fatal collisions leads to less motorcycle noise enforcement in Edmonton

The report McKeen has asked for should be in front of city council in three months.