count. Dan McCreary says people are tired of hearing excessively loud vehicles traveling through the city at all hours of the day and night.
He received support this week from his fellow councilors to back a resolution from the Town of Ajax that calls for the Ministry of Transportation to set a maximum decibel count for exhaust systems. The resolution states that exhaust systems capable of exceeding 80 decibels should not be available for sale and not permitted in Ontario.
The resolution, tabled during a debate at the council’s planning and administration committee meeting on Tuesday, further calls for the province to provide funding for police services to be equipped with decibel monitor devices to aid in enforcement, and for there to be penalties for offenders.
“It’s obnoxious,” Coun. Joshua Wall said of roaring vehicles that rev up and thunder down city streets. “I receive hundreds of complaints about loud vehicles.”
count. Jan Vanderstelt agreed, saying that outside of speeding, the most frequent complaint he gets from city residents are about loud vehicles.
“It’s unnecessary to have this kind of amplification on a car,” said Vanderstelt, noting a disregard by drivers of people working shifts, working from home, who have young children, or are trying to enjoy their yards. “It’s just bad behaviour. It’s just simply rude.”
According to the Highway Traffic Act, every motor vehicle is to be equipped with a working muffler to prevent excessive noise and smoke. And the act prohibits a “muffler cut-out, straight exhaust, gutted muffler, Hollywood muffler by-pass” or similar devices.
However, modifying a vehicle’s exhaust system is currently not an offense under the act. And, according to the Ajax resolution, muffler and auto body shops continue to modify vehicles.
count. Rose Sicoli, who voted against the resolution, said her husband and many friends ride motorcycles and they need to be loud in order to keep them safe.
“The first thing I say is, ‘Go get some loud mufflers.’ You have to be heard on a motorcycle or it can be catastrophic.”
Councilors agreed to amend McCreary’s resolution by requesting the province consult with transportation organizations, members of the public, and all stakeholders, including motorcycle associations, before setting a maximum decibel count for exhaust systems permitted in Ontario.