Noise Regs. Held Up for Sound Meter?
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FROM OUR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT THE 'Minister of Transport promised I young Conservatives at their annual conference in London on Saturday that he would "strike, and strike hard" at the problems of vehicle noise and fumes when he had weauons to strike with. Mr. Marples said there were far too many lorries and cars going around making too much noise. "If only we can get a meter wh!ch will measure noise and enable us to bring successful prosecutions, I can assure you it will he stamped out ", he declared. But he added that, so far, they did not have a scientific instrument to measure it.
On smoke, he said that the way some big lorries belched diesel fumes when going uphill was a danger to motoring and a menace to health. Again, the difficulty was that there was no instrument to test the smoke to bring successful prosecutions, said Mr. Marples, but it would not be very long before something was done. `" We hope to bring out a power-to-weight ratio, because some of the diesels are underpowered and they use the choke going uphill."• He hoped to bring something like that in--certainly this year, he remarked.
Mr. Marples added that the Government had every intention of carrying out Prof. Buchanan's excellent report on urban traffic. Its implementation was a job for central government, local authorities and the transport operators as well. Public transport, headded, might have to be given " certain priorities ".
"We have got to experiment with new types of public transport ", he added. " I am hoping the men of London Transport will accept the suggestions put to them by the L,T.B. Then we shall see new types in London.
noise meter situation have been received with some surprise. A spokesman for the T.R.T.A. told The Comniercial Motor this week that the comments ascribed to the Minister seemed to present a new slant on the implementation of noise regulations. The Association had consistently taken the view that the draft regulations had been brought along too quickly, and that the scheme was vulnerable to human error.