Annoyance of individual vehicle pass‐by noise for light and heavy vehicles

A laboratory experiment has been conducted to assess the noise annoyance of individual vehicle pass‐bys as a function of sound level. Vehicle type varied from passenger cars to heavy tanks. Results showed that for each individual vehicle type, the A‐weighted sound exposure level (SEL) was the most important predictor of the annoyance. However, at a given annoyance, the difference in level between different vehicle types could be as high as 11 dBA SEL. The difference in level between the high‐frequency part and the low‐frequency part of the spectrum seemed to play a role in the annoyance, in that sounds containing relatively much high‐frequency energy (e.g., passenger cars) were judged as being more annoying than those having relatively much low‐frequency energy (such as tanks). [Work supported by the Ministry of Defence.]