VPD begins crackdown on loud vehicles in the city

Starting today, Vancouver Police officers will be listening for noise violators in the city.

Traffic officers will be out with decibel meters, conducting increased enforcement on noisy exhaust from cars and motorcycles.

Vancouver Police spokesman Cst. Brian Montague said they don’t write a lot of tickets for these types of offences, but they want to raise awareness about the adverse impact that exhaust noise can have on city dwellers, especially residents of the downtown core.

“The noise levels can be pretty debilitating for some residents especially in summertime when people have their windows open,” said Montague.

He said noise levels from some motorcycles and cars could reach an upwards of 105 decibels in some areas while the legal requirement is 91 decibels, and they have been dealing with a number of concerns.

Unnecessary noise from a vehicle’s engine, tires, brakes or exhaust is a violation that currently carries a fine of $109 and three points. But Montague says they hope they can avoid issuing tickets, and are letting drivers with noisy vehicles know they will be looking out for them.

“A lot of it is education,” said Montague. “Just getting people aware that these can have some serious consequences especially in the West End. The noise tends to echo and almost increase as it gets bounced between the buildings, so it’s a significant concern for many of our residents.”

Montague said they also have the ability to write a fix-it ticket to violators, which provides the vehicle owner with a time frame during which they can fix the problem with their vehicle and avoid the fine.