Feedback Received from Residents on Loud Noise from Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns resident feedback regarding noisy vehicles and enforcement against illegal exhaust modifications and non-compliance with noise emission standards. Mr Gan Thiam Poh inquired about three-year statistics and future measures, prompting Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien to report that annual feedback cases decreased from 190 to 85 between 2020 and 2022. Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien stated that the Land Transport Authority enforced 1,215 illegal exhaust modifications in 2022, while the National Environment Agency penalised 66 vehicles for noise violations. To further address excessive noise, standards for new motorcycles, passenger cars, and aftermarket exhausts were tightened on 1 April 2023, with commercial vehicle standards following in 2024.
Transcript
62 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) in the past three years, how many cases of feedback have been received from residents about loud noise generated by motor vehicles and motorcycles respectively; (b) how many of such motor vehicles and motorcycles have been caught for illegal modification of vehicle exhaust systems or failure to comply with the noise emission standards; and (c) whether further measures can be implemented by the Ministry to address excessive noise generated by these vehicles.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Excessive vehicle noise is caused by a variety of factors, including vehicle design, illegal modifications, poor maintenance and inconsiderate driver behaviour. The National Environment Agency (NEA) received 190 cases of feedback on noisy vehicles in 2020, 175 cases in 2021 and 85 cases in 2022.
New vehicles must adhere to NEA's noise emission standards upon registration. Vehicles on the roads must meet in-use noise emission standards, which ensure that they are well maintained and do not emit excessive noise. Enforcement action was taken against nine vehicles in 2020, 76 in 2021 and 66 in 2022 for failure to comply with the noise emission standards.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) enforces against illegal exhaust modification, including those which may create excessive noise. The LTA enforced against 1,650 cases of illegal exhaust modifications in 2020, 1,781 cases in 2021 and 1,215 cases in 2022.
To further reduce excessive noise from vehicles, noise standards for new motorcycles, passenger cars and aftermarket exhaust systems were tightened on 1 April 2023 and will be tightened for new commercial vehicles on 1 April 2024. LTA is unable to provide a further breakdown of "noise-related modifications" and "non-noise-related modifications" as LTA does not collect such information.