Abstract
Motorcycle noise is an increasing noise problem, especially in Alpine valleys with winding roads and low environmental noise. The annoyance response to motorcycle engine noise is extraordinarily high in comparison to other traffic noise and cannot be explained by standard noise assessment curves. Therefore, the Tyrolean state government decided to initiate a multi-purpose study. Exposures were calculated based on sound-measurements taken across the entire district of Reutte in the western part of the State of Tyrol and a telephone survey (n = 545) was conducted with regional participants. The influence of demographic characteristics; sensitivity to noise; attitudes towards motorcycles and background noise on the annoyance was examined using bivariate analyses. In addition; exposure-response curves and their 95% confidence intervals with cut-off points of 60% and 72% for “highly annoyed” were created. The exposure annoyance response curves for motorcycle noise show a shift of more than 30 dB in annoyance reaction compared to other road traffic noise. The annoyance response to motorcycle noise in this Alpine region is concentrated on summer Sundays and Saturdays and is independent of the background exposure caused by other road traffic
Highlights
Noise is a relevant problem to the public and to individuals
We investigated the actual burden of motorcycle noise for the affected residents in the district of Reutte and their annoyance response to it
We explored the reasons for the annoyance response to motorcycle noise
Summary
Noise pollution in Europe is regarded as a serious environmental problem [1], in Austria it is even the prior-ranked problem concerning environment conditions [2]. Noise has important health-related consequences such as ischemic heart disease, cognitive impairment in children, sleep disturbance, tinnitus and annoyance [3]. The effects of annoyance are high in connection with traffic noise [4]. 2002/49/EC [5] recommends the use of exposure-response relations between the noise indicator Lden and noise annoyance as determined by means of field surveys. The noise indicator Lden for overall annoyance is an A-weighted long-term average sound level at which the evening receives an addition of 5 dB, and for the night-time of 10 dB. The most recent review on environmental noise and annoyance presents such a relation for road traffic noise [6].
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