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Noise control on motor vehicles intended to be registered
The Governor-in-Council has approved that legislation, which seeks to control noise emission from motor vehicles including motorcycles intended to be registered under the Road Traffic Ordinance, be introduced into the Legislative Council.
A government spokesman today (Friday) said the legislation aimed to prevent motor vehicles with inferior noise performance from being imported into Hong Kong as part of the Government's effort to reduce traffic noise.
All motor vehicles, including motor cycles, will be required to comply with the stringent international standards on first registration. It is intended that the control be effective from March 31, 1996.
The spokesman noted that road traffic in Hong Kong is among the busiest in the world but current control on vehicle noise is limited.
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He said that the European and Japanese noise emission standards which are the most stringent in the world will be adopted in the new legislation.
"Under these standards, the noise level from a private car and a large truck during acceleration cannot exceed 77 dB(A) and 84 dB(A) respectively measured at 7.5 metres away."
"There will not be any problem for most importers of new vehicles to comply with the required standards since a great proportion of the vehicle fleet in Hong Kong are Japanese and European made models," he added.
The new legislation, if enacted, will bring about a reduction in the overall traffic noise in a few years when the existing fleet is largely replaced by new vehicles which comply with the stringent noise standards.
The proposed control will not apply to special purpose vehicles, motor tricycles, village vehicles and vehicles which cannot travel above 50 kilometres per hour on the road.
The relevant legislation, namely the Noise Control (Amendment) Bill 1995 and the Road Traffic (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 1995, were published in the Gazette today. They will be introduced into the Legislative Council on December 6 this year.
End/Friday, November 24, 1995
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