The days of souped-up cars and motorcycles with loud exhaust pipes blaring down suburban streets could be over after a trial of noise detection cameras caught hundreds of offenders.

Driving a noisy car already incurs a fine of up to $1200 if it exceeds the prescribed noise limit by 15 decibels or more while the vehicle is stationary.

For lower noise offences, fines range from $150 to $500 depending on how loud the vehicle is. 

The Environmental Protection Authority is trying to crack down on noisy vehicles as they drive by.

The EPA has introduced three noise detection cameras in NSW, including two in Bayside, where residents say loud cars fly through the suburb regularly.

“It’s constant on the weekend … I can’t sleep,” one local told 9News. 

Since the cameras were installed in December they’ve captured 1000 noisy incidents, with almost half caused by repeat offenders, the EPA said. 

“We’ve determined 180 vehicles have committed 434 of noise events,” NSW EPA director Sonia Errington said. 

“The cameras are triggered by noise events over a certain decibel reading, then that activates a microphone and number plate recognition cameras as well.”

The next phase of the trial is ramping up, with engineers at the UTS sound lab in Botany tasked with testing the cameras to ensure they can distinguish loud vehicles from other sounds.

“When it gets more complicated [when there are] multiple vehicles …. but that’s what we are being tasked with here by the EPA,” mechanical engineering Associate Professor Benjamin Halkon said.

The trial wraps up in December, before the government decides if they can use the cameras to fine hoon drivers.