Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the level of penalties issued to people that modify (a) motorcycle and (b) vehicle exhausts.

The Government takes the impact of road noise on health, wellbeing and the natural environment seriously and recognises that proportionate and dissuasive penalties are an effective way to minimise it. The Department is continuing to research into whether noise enforcement can be automated using an acoustic camera system.

A review of the current penalties for all vehicles may need to be considered if acoustic camera systems prove to be a reliable and efficient way of enforcing noise limits.