Essay On Traffic Noise

According to World Health Organisation, Traffic noise is the second largest environmental issue in the EU. It is a major factor contributing to noise pollution. Noise pollution is any excessive and annoying amount of undesirable or unwanted sound in a particular area. It includes traffic noise from roadway such as motor vehicles, Railway noise from locomotives and trains, Aircraft noise from airplanes and helicopters (Den and Schroten, 2007).
According to the World Health Organization, 40% of Europe’s population is repeatedly exposed to noise levels in excess of 55 dB at night. According to Chalmers University of Technology, noise causes a number of effects ranging from Psychological to Physiological such as damage/ difficulty in hearing; interference with speech and sleep, disturbance and annoyance, sleep disturbance, work inefficiently and other health related issues.
There are a huge number of new technologies in materials and systems to reduce noise. Many tools are becoming available for designing and developing quieter products and traffic. With the allocation of better resources and capital equipment’s,

Road traffic noise is one of the most prevalent noise affecting people especially to the urban and peri urban dwellers. Road Traffic noise results from a combination of noise from numerous different vehicle types, of which each has its own features. These include light vehicles (passenger cars, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, and passenger-size vans), medium trucks, heavy trucks, buses, and motorcycles. The light vehicles and trucks out of the others tend to dominate traffic noise (Den and Schroten, 2007). Individually, passenger cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles emit moderately low levels of noise in comparison to aircraft and rail transit at equal distances. However, the total number of these vehicles nearly offsets their lower noise levels (Burleson,