Edmonton OR nurse was frustrated with street racers waking him up. So he designed decibel monitors to track the noise

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When you go in for surgery, you would hope the staff are well rested and fully awake.

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Seth Dear, who works as a registered nurse at the University of Alberta hospital’s operating room, would agree. However, he’s been coping with lack of sleep because people keep ripping up and down the street in noisy vehicles late at night.

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But with little empirical data to back up his experience of cars hissing by his window late at night, Dear’s taking a citizen scientist approach and set up his own decibel measuring device to track how often and what times of the night late night dragsters are blasting noise. He hopes to show enforcement officers where and when to keep an ear open for late-night offenders.

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“Randomly throughout the week you get the 2 a.m. people backfiring their truck,” he said. “It’s frustrating when you’ve got to get up an hour or two from then and your sleep is interrupted. So I thought why not record this and see how much it is happening and if it’s actually a real problem? Put some numbers to our collective annoyance with the noise pollution.

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“I understand people have hobbies, but there’s a time and a place. We don’t need to be woken up in the middle of the night. I think this is a pretty reasonable ask.”

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So far, Dear said his data is showing upwards of 30 per cent of noise violations are happening after 10 p.m.

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Using a Raspberry Pi and a leftover mic, Dear set up a decibel monitor on his balcony in Cloverdale and used a large language model to develop an online portal to display his findings. The idea quickly caught on and now he has three monitors — also tracking the volume around Whyte Avenue and the Brewery District — and five more people have requested monitors of their own.

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He added he can put together more at a cost of roughly $175 for parts. Anyone who wants to get involved can reach out using the contact on the monitoring website.

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Dear hasn’t put an end date to his study, noting he’s curious if drag racing slows down over the winter months. Ultimately, he plans to present his data to city council and the Edmonton Police Commission.

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Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz, who has long railed against noise pollution, said he is excited to see Edmontonians taking up the task of monitoring the streets.

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“It’s super cool that one neighbour, using guides and online tools, is putting data and facts to a longstanding complaint,” he said. “It’s like neighbourhood watch for noise.

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“It’s not just the noise — it’s the fact this is street racing. It’s not just a nuisance, it’s a safety hazard.”

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Nature news What are the city’s quiet hours?

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Volume is not to exceed 50 dB from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. in residential areas. Most noise during the day is limited to 65 dB between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., however construction is required to stop at 9 p.m. during the week and at 7 p.m. on weekends. Concerts and festivals can continue until later if they obtain a permit, at the discretion of the city manager.

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Louder noises have their own restrictions — noise above 70 dB can only be projected for a maximum of two hours in a day. That drops to one hour for volumes above 75 dB, a half-hour if 80 dB and a maximum of 15 minutes for any sounds 85 dB and higher.