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Overly-loud exhausts can sometimes be a problem in my area, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights.
Although, to be honest, sometimes local Government itself is part of the problem. For one example, in Fairfax, VA, close to where I live, a Harley motorcycle dealer has been there for years. This dealership constantly violates the County and City noise-ordinances with the big Harley-Hog-bikes and their straight pipes (no mufflers)...but the town officials look the other way, because they aren't about to shut down the place that services and repairs the town's Harley Police-motorcycles.
Last edited by mmarshall; Aug 9, 2025 at 05:12 PM.
I am ALL for this. I can hear people racing their rice burners on 270 and on some of the surface roads at night, Friday and Saturday nights and it is god awful.
Sorry, the link posted was from a Wall Street Journal article on MSN.com. The link now shows as paywalled. Too bad, it is quite interesting, especially given the extent of the fines being levied for violations.
I am ALL for this. I can hear people racing their rice burners on 270 and on some of the surface roads at night, Friday and Saturday nights and it is god awful.
Yes, in general, I'm with Steve on this. I live next to a high school, and kids love to show off their coke-can and motorbike exhausts in the parking lot.
When you have to listen to it all the time, sorry my enjoyment of my home trumps the kids having fun. It’s not just once in a while. On a nice Friday or Saturday night it’s like living down the road from a racetrack, it’s absurd.
in CA we actually have a vehicle code stating 95db limit at a given distance (forgot what it is) - which is loud! most harleys and sport bikes can easily exceed this but they have their reasons i suppose.
i'm more annoyed with the burbles and pops of certain modded cars who are out for attention.
Sorry, the link posted was from a Wall Street Journal article on MSN.com. The link now shows as paywalled. Too bad, it is quite interesting, especially given the extent of the fines being levied for violations.
here ya go…
New Noise Cameras Pit Drivers of Fast Cars Against Their Neighbors
Story by Scott CalvertNEWPORT, R.I.—As the crimson Mustang GT rumbled toward winding Ocean Avenue on the rocky Atlantic coast, a roadside noise camera was listening.
The device measured the Ford’s throaty engine and exhaust at 85 decibels, two over Newport’s limit, city records show. A camera snapped its license plate.
The likely cost of that late July ride through this upscale tourist town? A $250 ticket for violating the municipal noise ordinance.
Noise cameras are the new frontier in automated traffic enforcement. Growing numbers of agencies across the U.S., from New York to Hawaii, see them as a way to combat revving engines, blaring stereos, honking horns and earsplitting mufflers—some illegally altered.
For police, public officials and residents, the machines partially solve a perennial top complaint, particularly during warmer months in spots like Newport, where throngs flock to the Gilded Age mansions, music festivals and the bustling colonial waterfront.
“Folks have reached their boiling point,” Newport City Councilor David Carlin III said.
Local resident Caroline Richards was on her front porch one June evening when she recorded what sounded like a racetrack. “We should be hearing crickets and nice summer sounds,” said Richards, 54 years old, a Realtor who supports the cameras. “I’m not for overpolicing what people want to drive or do. But it’s just obnoxious, it just definitely feels like it’s gotten worse.”
To critics—some who refuse to pay the tickets—the devices are another step toward a surveillance society and can unfairly ensnare drivers simply going about their routines in street-legal vehicles.
New York City reigns as the U.S. noise-camera epicenter. It operates 10 in partnership with U.K.-based Intelligent Instruments, whose SoundVue cameras film and pinpoint the offending vehicle even with others present. Fines are $800 for a first violation, $1,700 for a second, and $2,500 for a third. The city has issued more than 2,500 tickets since 2021, though it has collected only about $550,000 of the roughly $2 million in fines.
“Is this a complete dragnet? Of course not,” said Rohit “Rit” Aggarwala, commissioner of New York’s Department of Environmental Protection. “I think in order really to say whether it’s having an actual impact on noise violations, we would need a much more comprehensive deployment.”
While cacophonous illegal mufflers are a target, he said driving an unmodified car doesn’t excuse topping the city’s 85-decibel violation threshold, which is above the legal limit. “It’s totally legal to buy a massive sound system to put in your backyard,” Aggarwala said. “That doesn’t mean you’re allowed to play it at full blast in a crowded neighborhood, right?”
The noise code is city law, he added: “People have to figure out how to avoid violating.”
That logic doesn’t sit well with city resident Anthony Aquilino. A noise camera in Manhattan recorded his $315,000 Lamborghini Huracán at 92 decibels. The insurance broker said he would have deserved a ticket for “acting arrogant” behind the wheel. But he said he was driving 25 miles an hour to a prostate-cancer awareness event. The burst of noise, he said, came when he braked for a pothole and the car downshifted.
Aquilino, 39, unsuccessfully contested his citation, and a judge in June tossed his appeal. He has paid the $800 fine but pledged to continue fighting in court. “It’s either don’t drive the car in Manhattan, sell the car, or just keep getting noise-pollution tickets,” he said. “I can’t change the way the car sounds.”
On a recent evening, the mostly quiet procession of vehicles along Thames was pierced by a quartet of growling motorcycles and a Jeep that cruised with its top off and stereo screaming. At O’Brien’s Pub, bouncer Will McGary, 29, said those loud noises jar patio patrons. “They turn around, they stare, and then you hear them swear.”
“It’s got a pretty obnoxious engine, but that’s the way the car is made,” said Morganti, 63, who reluctantly paid the fine.
Jonathon Zitt, a Navy sailor based in Newport, received a ticket from the same camera while on a food run to BJ’s in the 1994 Nissan Skyline GT-R he brought back from Japan. The citation noted 94.9 decibels. Zitt, 38, who lives in neighboring Middletown, said he and his wife have mused about retiring locally.
“That’s not an option if I can’t drive my car,” he said. “This is my dream car. I worked my whole life to buy this.”
One of Zitt’s complaints: No signs warn drivers about the cameras. Duffy, the police chief, said previous noise-related signs backfired as some motorcyclists revved their engines—an acoustic middle finger. He said he recently asked the traffic unit to explore signage possibilities.
So far, Newport has issued a few dozen noise-camera tickets, and Duffy said he expects the pace to accelerate. “I think when you have success with enforcement, you’ll be able to change the behavior.”
That can’t come soon enough for Bill Hogan, 73, a retired municipal chief financial officer.
“Our friends live throughout all of Newport,” he said. “The hue and cry is the same. Do something about the damn noise and the speed.”
I wonder what will happen if some of these scofflaws simply refuse to pay the fines ....if the local governments have the authority to access their bank accounts and physically withdraw the funds. And, of course, some bank accounts may not have enough of a balance to cover the fine in the first place, although most probably will. In many states, you cannot re-register your vehicle if there are any outstanding fines, until you pay up first. But, of course, that doesn't stop some people...they drive around with fake license plates, expired registrations/plates, suspended/revoked licenses,and vehicles illegally still registered in other states they don't have an address in.
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Last edited by mmarshall; Aug 12, 2025 at 11:07 AM.
I wonder what will happen if some of these scofflaws simply refuse to pay the fines ....if the local governments have the authority to access their bank accounts and physically withdraw the funds. And, of course, some bank accounts may not have enough of a balance to cover the fine in the first place, although most probably will. In many states, you cannot re-register your vehicle if there are any outstanding fines, until you pay up first. But, of course, that doesn't stop some people...they drive around with fake license plates, expired registrations/plates, suspended/revoked licenses,and vehicles illegally still registered in other states they don't have an address in.
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Yep, people who drive the loud $#!%box 4 cyl Hondas and VQ finfins are going to keep at it
Toyota and Lexus Join Mille Miglia For The First Time
Slideshow: A five-car lineup spanning more than five decades of Toyota performance and engineering will tackle one of Italy's most celebrated automotive routes.
....if the local governments have the authority to access their bank accounts and physically withdraw the funds. And, of course, some bank accounts may not have enough of a balance to cover the fine in the first place, although most probably will. In many states, you cannot re-register your vehicle if there are any outstanding fines, until you pay up first. But, of course, that doesn't stop some people...they drive around with fake license plates, expired registrations/plates, suspended/revoked licenses,and vehicles illegally still registered in other states they don't have an address in.