New EU regulation on the sound level of motor vehicles

Before the end of 2013, the responsible institutions of the European Union will probably decide on a proposal for a new “Regulation on the sound level of motor vehicles.” It will specify a new type approval test method for noise emission and will give revised limit values for the permissible noise emission per vehicle (sub-)category. The new regulation may be seen as a final stage of a long series of developments towards a more representative way of testing, but at the same time it should be a starting phase of regular reductions of limit values to achieve a substantial reduction of traffic noise impact and improvement of urban environmental conditions. This article describes the historical development of noise emission test methods, the shortcomings of the current test method and the expected improvements resulting from the new test method. The predicted environmental and health effects of the new Regulation are presented and an outlook to future developments concerning vehicle noise emission test methods is given.