Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will require MOT tests to use decibel meters to ensure that exhaust noise levels are legally compliant.

MOT testers are required to check if exhausts comply with the Construction and Use regulations that prohibit alterations which create excessive noise. Testers are generally capable of identifying these instances without a decibel meter, and those that are not can be identified by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. The MOT is an important safeguard, but excessive motor vehicle noise is also a result of nuisance driver behaviour that is regulated by local authorities.