Moscow has been quietly advancing a plan to curb noise from cars and motorcycles. Officials indicate several prototypes have been prepared in the city to meet certification requirements and operate under clear, well-defined algorithms. The aim is precise measurement so no mistakes lead to fines for violators, according to reports from Kommersant.
The initiative began in August 2021 when Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin directed the creation of a penalty system for owners of extremely noisy vehicles. He framed the issue as a crackdown on vehicles that sleep late in the night with mufflers removed and loud music blasting, referring to drivers who stay in the throttle and raise the volume as “frozen motorists.”
Under the proposed scheme, violations recorded automatically by sound level cameras would trigger fines of 5,000 rubles for the driver.
Testing of new cameras took place in September 2021 by Moscow’s TsODD, but the project hit a pause. The exact decibel threshold that would trigger penalties had not been finalized, and the maximum sound level to be measured remained undecided at that time.
Liksutov emphasized that rushing the launch was not a goal. There was no mandate to implement the system immediately. The priority was to develop a competitive, high-precision product that avoids a monopoly by any single manufacturer and that offers reliable performance when measuring changes in sound levels.
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