Abstract
The extent of annoyance caused by road traffic noise was investigated
in 15 areas with a varying number of vehicles and different distances
between the traffic and houses. The goal was to compare two principles
for expressing noise exposure. One was based on the conventional
energy equivalent value in terms of a 24-hourLAeqvalue. The other
was based on the number of events and noise level as two independent
variables. A postal questionnaire study was performed in the different
areas, and noise exposure measurements were made at a representative
site in each area. The individual noise exposure was calculated on
the basis of the distance of the respondent from the road and the
floor level. The results showed that the number of noise events did
not influence the extent of annoyance. There was a strong relationship
between theLAeqand the extent of annoyance as well as between the
maximum noise level and the extent of annoyance. These data suggest
that actions to control the disturbing effects of road traffic noise
should focus on noisy vehicles and that limiting the number of vehicles
would not have an effect on the extent of annoyance.
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