Taichung ‘Hush City Project’ starts now

This August, the Taichung City Police Department started experimenting the “Hush City Project” — a two-in-one device featuring a noise detector and a speed camera that allows detection of both the travel speed and sound of passing cars.

After a month of experimentation, the police caught 1,879 cases of speeding, along with 128 cars surpassing the vehicle noise limits. The project has been lauded by the public thanks to such outstanding results.

The police department, therefore, announced that, they will further expand the use of the device to more locations starting Sep. 1 and call for joint efforts from precincts across the city, and together maintain a peaceful Taichung.

“Hush City Project” aims to crack down on speeding vehicles, especially during night time, but also focuses on documenting modified cars that do not follow noise standards, and will direct the collected evidence to Environmental Protection Bureau for further examination.

Cooperation between the Police Department and Environmental Protection Bureau embodies the spirit of “one task, two functions,” tackling two problems with a joint effort.

The Directorate General of Highways’ Taichung Motor Vehicles Office, under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, will also partner with the police department and environmental bureau in strengthening car inspection.

The cross-department collaboration expects to inspect around 400 vehicles annually and hopes to vanquish all traces of violating behaviors on the road.

The Traffic Police Corps of Taichung City Police Department stated that monitoring speeding vehicles is part of their daily duty but hopes to increase effectiveness and efficiency with the new hybrid device.

Commissioner of Taichung City Police Department, Yang Yuan-Ming (楊源明), said that based on the calls they received on both the 110 emergency line and 1999 citizen service hotline, it appears that many citizens believe that speeding and noise pollutions of vehicles go hand in hand.

In fact, speed and the amount of noise produced don’t necessarily correlate, as most vehicles nowadays need to go through noise inspection first before it’s on the market. Thus, most cases of vehicular noise pollution are from modified cars or the result of drivers intentionally tampering the engines.

Loud modified cars can severely undermine citizens’ living quality. The Police Department will continue its effort in eliminating speeding and noisy vehicles.

They encourage citizens to participate by reporting directly to the Environmental Protection Bureau when spotting very loud vehicles on the street and urge drivers to adhere to the laws in maintaining the tranquility of Taichung city. ●

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