Here's a new one for me - I got a ticket for having the HKS Hi-Power exhaust. I wasn't speeding, tail-gating, or driving erratically in any way - got pulled over specifically for the HKS.

The cop was an old guy - perhaps the exhaust was too loud for him? I was very polite and insisted that there was nothing wrong with the exhaust, no cats removed, etc. So he made me get out of my car and get in the patrol car, where he pulled out the Virginia Driving Laws manual. Here's the entry that he made me read:

"§ 46.2-1049. Exhaust system in good working order.
No person shall drive and no owner of a vehicle shall permit or allow the operation of any such vehicle on a highway unless it is equipped with an exhaust system in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual levels of noise; provided however, that for motor vehicles, such exhaust system shall be of a type installed as standard factory equipment, or comparable to that designed for use on the particular vehicle as standard factory equipment. An exhaust system shall not be deemed to prevent excessive or unusual noise if it permits the escape of noise in excess of that permitted by the standard factory equipment exhaust system of private passenger motor vehicles or trucks of standard make.
The term "exhaust system," as used in this section, means all the parts of a vehicle through which the exhaust passes after leaving the engine block, including mufflers and other sound dissipative devices.
Chambered pipes are not an effective muffling device to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and any vehicle equipped with chambered pipes shall be deemed in violation of this section."
I haven't checked to see what the fine is for this violation, and I'm still debating whether to challenge this in court or just pay the fee and forget about it. I'd like to challenge this, and I'm interested if anyone else has had to deal with this sort of issue. Comments please!

 

This is a different exhaust than the HKS exhaust Lexus sells as optional equipment?

 

DAMN!! in Va too..hmm where did u get the tic

 

ROFL... thats hillarious. ALWAYS plead not guilty at the arrainment cuz you never know if the cop will show up to trial.

 

Just an FYI, that *should* be improper equipment, which means that it's NOT a moving violation. But you may want to verify that.

 

Yes its a completely different exhaust.

 

I hate Virginia. With the new laws getting ready to hit us on July 1st and the ridiculous Fairfax county cops, it's just getting out of control. How about all these damn motorcycles with the exhaust so loud I can't even finish my sentences until they are far enough away. No ticket and those bikes didn't come from the factory that way, yet the police still pick on us.

New VA Driving Fines

Effective July 1 in Commonwealth of Virginia, any traffic ticket, with
the exception of regular speeding, will carry heavy civil penalties
(yes, this is a new charge) in addition to the fine and court costs that
you will have to pay.

Here are just a few............

Driving on a suspended or revoked permit - Civil penalty $750.00 + the
court cost & fines

Reckless Driving - Civil penalty $1,050.00 + the court cost & fines

DUI - 1st offence - Civil penalty $2,250.00 + the court cost & fines

Failure to give proper signal - Civil penalty $1,050.00 + the court cost
& fines

Leaving the scene of an accident - Civil penalty $3,000.00 + the court
cost & fines

 

HiPower is still way too quiet to lose a court case, I say challenge it.

 

Yes, this is Fairfax county - on Lee Hwy, for my VA amigos.

I do plan on challenging it, even though it will cost me half a day of sitting in traffic court. Here's a useful link from the HKS website which might provide some leverage:


http://www.hksusa.com/faq/?ID=1598

While this specifically refences CA, I hope I can get some additional information by calling their tech line.

Thanks for the comments, guys.

 

FFX County FTL, I got pulled over for exhaust a few months back he let that go and give me a tint ticket instead. To top it all off I live and work in MD my car didn't have VA tags. When I asked I was told since I was in his jurisdiction I had to abide by the rules whether I lived there or not. Options were to pay fine or take tint off and go to court. I paid the $85 fine. It's all about revenue for them.

 

That's exactly it. They are doing everything possible to bring in more revenue. Take a look at paragraph two in this link.

http://www.courts.state.va.us/publications/hb_3202.pdf

 

Wow that really sucks, even though it says virginia residents only I think they will go after any and everybody.

 

Yeah, when I'm ready to buy a house next year I have a feeling I'll be looking at Maryland myself. Way to treat your own residents Virginia!

 

That sucks. I always thought VA was soft on that kind of stuff when I lived there from '95-'00. I had a riced out '91 Acura Integra with 20% tint, test pipe, SRI, and Dynomax exhaust. The only ticket I ever got was for the tint. Come to think of it ... I went about 18 months with expired Texas registration since I didn't want to pay the personal property tax, and didn't get hassled about that until I was ticketed for the tint. The ticket for that was far less than the tax would have been, so that turned out great.

 

I dont know the law over there but you should fight it and plea not guilty put back your OEM exhaust and show them. Than your ticket should be thrown out, cause with tint tickets if you take it off than you can get it thrown out.