ITA targets noisy ‘Yeng Yeng’ bikes

After years of complaints from the public about the noise nuisance caused by loud motorbikes, the Island Traffic Authority (ITA) says it will be moving to address the issue.

ITA Director Kenute Hare, speaking to The Gleaner, said the authority, with the help of the police, will be prosecuting drivers of these noisy bikes. He is also urging members of the public to upload photos or videos of same to the social media platform of the ITA and the Road Safety Unit (RSU), so that they may be apprehended.

The Yeng Yeng bikes, with silencer removed from the muffler, have constantly been identified as a noise nuisance and are said to exceed the noise limitations under the Noise Abatement Act.

“I want to warn all motorcyclists across Jamaica who have removed the silencer out of their bikes, to rest assured that their will be no solace for them,” Hare said.

He added: “We appealed to them to put it back in, get the noise out of the bike, because we’re going to ensure – you see persons who are in hospital who are trying to get their medical treatment, they are now subjected to the terror of these loud bikes – we’re going to ensure also that elderly people who are in their beds at nights, who want to get their rest, are not frightened out of their beds because of these loud bikes. We’re also going to ensure that our population is free from this nuisance.”

TOPIC OF DISCUSSION

The Yeng Yeng bike with its noise nuisance has been the topic of much discussion across and was even referenced in a song by Busy Signal in January, when he released Yengyeng, although his focus was more on alleged criminal acts being committed by riders of this bike.

Hare is encouraging the public to support the ITA in its efforts to eliminate the noise nuisance.

“One of the things I would like persons to do – use the ITA and RSU social media platform, and if you see any bike out there with loud muffler, take a photograph, upload it to our social media site. We’re on YouTube, we’re on Facebook, we’re on Instagram. We’re going to deal with it.”

Hare said that persons have licensed the bikes with the silencer intact but take them out after. The authorities now have decibel meters in their possession to monitor the noise levels being emitted by these bikes in an uptick of spot checks on the road.

Hare said the ITA’s first choice is not to prosecute, as some persons use motorcycles for work. However, the ITA is committed to enforcing the law following an increased volume of complaints.

“We’re fully committed to enforcing the Road Traffic Act because we’ve received a plethora of complaints. We’ve tried the soft approach with the motorcyclists and we’ve realised that they’ve taken us for a ride. So the days of soft talking are over, that is why we and the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) have joined a symbiotic alliance to ensure that this nuisance is removed,” Hare told The Gleaner.