Kaunas streets' noise complaints go uncounted, no changes planned

Residents in Kaunas are complaining about noise from vehicles during evening and night hours, but neither the city municipality nor the regional police department are collecting statistics on these complaints. Both institutions acknowledge receiving grievances, particularly concerning the city center and busy streets.

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We inform you that the Kaunas Regional Police Department does not collect separate statistics on received reports regarding noise from vehicles. Therefore, it is not possible to provide an exact number of such reports.

Police representatives describe the issue of vehicle noise as complex, requiring collaboration among various agencies. They state that the police, within their authority, work with the Kaunas municipality and other bodies, participating in meetings and reviewing resident information to assess additional preventive and control measures. The municipality confirms this cooperation, noting discussions about theoretical possibilities before the warmer season.

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The municipality cannot replace police functions, but can contribute by creating better conditions for carrying out these functions.

Martynas Matusevičius, head of the Kaunas City Municipality Administration's Transport and Traffic Organization Department, emphasized that controlling vehicle technical condition and noise is primarily a police function. "The municipality cannot replace police functions but can contribute by creating better conditions for carrying out these functions," he stated. He added that the municipality has not enacted specific administrative acts to address noise from motorcycles and cars with modified exhaust systems.

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The municipality has not adopted separate administrative acts specifically to address the problem of noise caused by motorcycles and cars with modified exhaust systems.

To facilitate police work, the Kaunas municipality has previously supplied officers with specialized equipment, including certified noise meters, electric scooters, and a drone with a thermal imager. While these tools enable officers to more effectively identify violations, the decision on the frequency and location of their use remains with the police. Police spokespeople indicated that officers conduct traffic enforcement and targeted operations, focusing on compliance with technical requirements, illegal exhaust modifications, noise levels, speeding, and dangerous or hooligan driving.

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Officers carry out traffic participant control and organize targeted police measures, during which special attention is paid to compliance with technical condition requirements for vehicles, illegally modified exhaust systems, noise generated by vehicles, exceeding the speed limit, and identifying and preventing cases of dangerous and hooligan driving.