It has been estimated that the annual social cost of urban road noise in England ranges from £7 billion to £10 billion, similar to the cost of road accidents (£9 billion). The health and social costs of noise from road traffic are increasingly well documented - with research repeatedly finding that exposure to noise from road vehicles can impact. While there is a growing number of electric vehicles on our roads, which run on have motors which are quieter than combustion engines, once vehicles are travelling at 50km/hr the contact between tyres and the road is the main source of noise we hear. This means that electric vehicles alone won't solve our road traffic noise problem. This IOA briefing outlines the issue of road traffic noise, and potential solutions to reducing the cost of this noise to our health and society.
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