Bid to silence noisy cars

The National Party has launched a petition to get cars with noisy exhausts off the streets.

National MP Nicky Wagner, of Christchurch, said the problem of noisy car exhausts was "out of control".

She had been inundated with complaints from businesses and visitors and said the problem was harming the tourism industry. There were now 94,000 excessively noisy cars on the streets.

"National wants the decibel limit tightened at least to the Australian standard and we want an objective test to check exhaust noise during a warrant of fitness."

She has drafted a Control of Noisy Exhausts Bill to address the problem.

The petition will back this up with public support.

- NZPA