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To anyone who’s ever had a deep sleep or quiet, romantic dinner interrupted by the sound of a loudly-roaring car, help is at hand. Alberta electrical engineer Mark Nesdoly has created a noise-monitoring device — the Noise Snare — designed to help police and bylaw officers track down the offenders.
The device, designed to be mounted on a car, monitors passing traffic for noise levels, then automatically takes a video of any offenders who rev up past 96 decibels. Think of it as a red-light camera, but for obnoxiously-loud cars. The first one goes into action this month in Calgary says Nesdoly, who created a prototype seven years ago. “It’s pretty exciting that it’s happening. Nobody wanted to be the first one to take a chance, but now that Calgary’s doing it, I’m getting more interest,” said Nesdoly. He’s hoping interest will pick up more once the first $200 fine issued under Calgary’s anti-noise bylaw winds its way through the court system. “If I had to guess, I’d say it might take until August before there’s a conviction. I’ll be celebrating,” said Nesdoly, who was inspired to create the Noise Snare when his then-infant daughter was startled awake by a neighbour’s motorcycle 11 years ago. While he’d be delighted if his idea spread to Toronto, he’s not sure yet if there’s interest. “I think I sent a package to someone in Toronto, but I can’t remember for sure,” said Nesdoly, who also works a day job for an engineering firm. “I do have a job, but my boss knows if this thing takes off, I’m going to be doing it fulltime,” said Nesdoly. In addition to a wait-and-see attitude from some cities he’s approached, Nesdoly faces another potential obstacle to sales: His gadget isn’t exactly cheap. If he’d actually sold it to Calgary, it would have cost the city $112,500. Instead, he gave it to them. By next year, he hopes to have a cheaper model available for roughly $50,000. If your quiet moments have been interrupted by other urban nuisances such as leaf blowers, Nesdoly warns you shouldn’t get your hopes up: He has no plans to turn the Noise Snare into a multi-purpose device. “This is only for vehicles. And besides, if your neighbour was using a leaf blower and you wandered over to them with a piece of electrical equipment, they’d probably figure something was up,” said Nesdoly.
