Standardizing car sound - integrating Europe? : contextualizing traffic noise abatement, 1950-1975

From the 1950’s onwards road traffic has become the most significant noise source in human environment. Since then, traffic noise abatement has been high on the agenda of European regulators and engineers. Particularly for engineers, the development of new measurement instruments, the standardized setup of the test equipment, and the imposing of noise limits for different vehicle categories were crucial to tackle the noise issue. To approach the noise problem the International Organization for Standardization recommended a first standard on noise measurement in 1961: recommendation 362. At the same time, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Economic Community started to argue about joint measures to reduce traffic noise. Despite these efforts, the bi-annual conferences of the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies show that noise abatement entered the automotive engineering discourse not before the 1970’s. Furthermore, the conference papers reveal the different national appropriation of ISO 362 and the diverting interests within the engineering community. By focusing on the international conferences, the paper will trace the circulation and appropriation of special knowledge on car noise measurement and reduction in the international engineering field.