Exhaust noise testing

Recovering Saabaholic

Recovering Saabaholic

New member
Got ticketed on my way home by Falmouth PD last night. Said the exhaust was too loud. I am familiar with the laws, but the only place the officer was familiar with to get my exhaust tested was up in Mexico. I suppose I could delay the court appearance until after NEFR, and get it done then, but would rather take care of it asap. Does anyone know anywhere in the southern maine/ portland area that will do this?

Thanks,

Ethan

 
Subarude -  I have CNT EL headers w/HFC, and an OBX 2.5" catback. It is a little louder than a stock WRX, but is not nearly as loud as other cars out there. My in-laws STOCK CTS-V is noticably louder than my car, so I really don't understand why I got singled out.

Jamey -  I work in Scarborough, so Saco would be very convenient. Do you have the name of the shop that will do this?

Thanks,

Ethan

 
I run a magnaflow cat back I've never had issues , the place is across from the water park in route 1 , I also work in Scarborough. I'm sure to see you eventually lol

 
Matt,

It is a summons, requiring me to go to court. If I do not go a default judgement will be against me and then they will levy a fine. I do not know how much that would be. It really is just a bulls#!t charge. What gets me riled up the most is that the officer doesn't use any equipment to even try and objetively measure the amount of noise. His opinion and subjective judgement that I am "too loud" is all that is needed to hand me a summons. The burden is then on me to prove that I am in compliance of the law, even though there is no hard evidence that I was ever out of compliance. Talk about guilty until proven innocent.

/end rant

Ethan

 
I beleive it can't be any louder then 95db wich mine only hit 82 on rev I have a paper saying this so good luck getting me
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It's 95db and can't be any louder than stock. Which means you can't modify an exhaust that causes it to be louder and a stock exhaust can't be worn out internally (meaning baffles and such aren't rotted).

 
Its not louder than stock, or 95db if it has been modified.

http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/29-A/title29-Asec1912.html

The law definitely states that the burden of proof is on the individual not the officer. That you must get your exhaust tested to defend yourself against the officers judgement that your exhaust is too loud.

So technically, it is illegal to modify the exhaust. If you do modify and get a summons, you need to get tested to certify that you are below 95db. If you get tested and certified, then you go to court and have a positive defense agains the charge. My hangup is why aren't the officers required to carry some sort of SPL testing equipment with them in order to have an idea of whether or not your car is close to the 95db level. It is like getting a speeding ticket because the officer thought that maybe you were going a little too fast.

I dont know. It just seems wrong to me. Like I said earlier, guilty until proven innocent.

 
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