Horn please, not ok
(AM Test Drive)
In 2009, only TWO cases of high decibel honking were registered by the city traffic dept. Little wonder why Amdavadis are still living with audio harassment from blaring vehicle horns
By Hemington James, Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Friday, January 22, 2010 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20100122201001220232241716d8af079)
Incessant, loud honking plagues Ahmedabad, like any other burgeoning metro. Why doesn’t the noise stop? Maybe, because there are laws in place which, like many laws in place, are not enforced. Here’s a (really) small piece of statistic that may tell you why in Ahmedabad loud honking is not taken as a serious issue. In 2009, only TWO cases of vehicle drivers violating prescribed decibel levels were registered by the city traffic police. The only detail AM could prise out about these cases was that while one vehicle was detained, other other case went to court.
AM carried out a test-drive to check if vehicles owners/drivers in the city followed what the law lays down when it comes to decibel levels of horns. And, we were not surprised by the findings.
The test-drive was assisted by Prakash Vaghela, a pollution, safety and management consultant of Emission Monitoring Services.
Not one vehicle - randomly picked for the check - had a horn that honked within the prescribed decibel limits.
Concerned officials seemed helpless in curbing what can be termed as ‘audio harassment’.
All vehicles, according to central government directives, roll out of their stables with standardised horns; these devices are often replaced with those with higher noise levels. While the RTO says it can do nothing to curb the sale of high decibel horns and that only the people can discipline themselves, the traffic department finds regulating noise levels too tough a task.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) MM Anarwala says: ‘Kya hoga hamara?” Anarwala says traffic offenders are an aggressive lot. “Those booked for not wearing helmets or strapping on seat belts often clash with traffic policemen. There have been cases of a traffic cop being assaulted by an offender. Just imagine what will happen if the cops try to regulate the decibel levels in a city which seriously lacks traffic and civic sense.”
Regional Transport Officer Atul Gaur says it is shocking to hear the kind of horns people install in their vehicles. “Sudden noise of the scary kind can cause serious accidents. The horns fitted in vehicles during manufacturing are as per the central government directive. The noise they create doesn’t cross the prescribed limits.
But people get them changed, which is against the law and do not conform to limits.”
He added:”It’s up to the people of this city to discipline themselves.”
In 2009, only TWO cases of high decibel honking were registered by the city traffic dept. Little wonder why Amdavadis are still living with audio harassment from blaring vehicle horns
By Hemington James, Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Friday, January 22, 2010 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20100122201001220232241716d8af079)
Incessant, loud honking plagues Ahmedabad, like any other burgeoning metro. Why doesn’t the noise stop? Maybe, because there are laws in place which, like many laws in place, are not enforced. Here’s a (really) small piece of statistic that may tell you why in Ahmedabad loud honking is not taken as a serious issue. In 2009, only TWO cases of vehicle drivers violating prescribed decibel levels were registered by the city traffic police. The only detail AM could prise out about these cases was that while one vehicle was detained, other other case went to court.
AM carried out a test-drive to check if vehicles owners/drivers in the city followed what the law lays down when it comes to decibel levels of horns. And, we were not surprised by the findings.
The test-drive was assisted by Prakash Vaghela, a pollution, safety and management consultant of Emission Monitoring Services.
Not one vehicle - randomly picked for the check - had a horn that honked within the prescribed decibel limits.
Concerned officials seemed helpless in curbing what can be termed as ‘audio harassment’.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) MM Anarwala says: ‘Kya hoga hamara?” Anarwala says traffic offenders are an aggressive lot. “Those booked for not wearing helmets or strapping on seat belts often clash with traffic policemen. There have been cases of a traffic cop being assaulted by an offender. Just imagine what will happen if the cops try to regulate the decibel levels in a city which seriously lacks traffic and civic sense.”
Regional Transport Officer Atul Gaur says it is shocking to hear the kind of horns people install in their vehicles. “Sudden noise of the scary kind can cause serious accidents. The horns fitted in vehicles during manufacturing are as per the central government directive. The noise they create doesn’t cross the prescribed limits.
But people get them changed, which is against the law and do not conform to limits.”
He added:”It’s up to the people of this city to discipline themselves.”
