So far, I have had no problems with my radical (loud) hot rods where I live in the far Western Maryland and the nearby West Virginia area but population is sparse here. Back in the day, we were constantly hassled by cops in the DC suburbs. I would imagine that crack has taken some of the heat off Hot Rodders in many areas like that these days. For those looking to relocate or looking for a vacation home, are there any HOT ROD NO GO ZONES that you would avoid? It's been a few years but A1A South of Daytona was a No Go Zone. Obviously HOA's tend to attract busy-bodies and complainers.
Area 51 in Nevada, they just will not let you in. "no-go zone" is a neighborhood or other geographic area where some or all outsiders either are physically prevented from entering or can enter only at risk.
Outside of one town in the area that they seem to like to hand out equipment tickets most of the time it is individual city cops, deputies or state patrol officers that give you a hard time and not the whole force. Truthfully I'd have to say the best thing about those little furrin cars with their fart pipes and rubber band tires and get a pack of Luckies stuck when you slide it under the car flat lowering jobs is that they take a hell of a lot of pressure off old hot rods and customs that we might otherwise get.
The little city in the rh corner of Illinois, called Chicago. Don’t drive your rod or anything there. Unless you want it to end up in their many yards. Especially 6&7. Go in a car come out dust and dirt. Gone forever.
There are a bunch of cities around here that are stating that they will be enforcing loud exhaust fines. At least the trailered signs when you enter the city says so.
The problem some cities have enforcing loud exhaust ordinances is that many years ago more and more people contested loud exhaust tickets and beat them. Nothing in the laws stated how loud "loud" was so they had to stipulate in decibles how loud a noise could be. Most cop cars don't have a Db meter in them and proving what the distance was to the claimed noise proves to be another hard point to make. That is figured into the formula along with the maximum DB a vehicle can emit. I know more later model cars with their single chamber mufflers are a lot louder than anything I ever owned. When I hear them from a mile away from inside the house..... well, they are too loud!
We spend winters in a Phoenix Arizona suburb town and no problems with loud cars/cycles, plenty of car shows/cruises etc. I have friends that go to Florida and same deal, never heard of a problem. IMO the Police/Sherrif departments are under staffed, don't have time for any traffic control anymore, driving in any big city is pretty scary these days. I lived in Milwaukee /suburbs, drove hobby cars with various performance exhaust forever, never once stopped on noise issue, exception, when I was a kid in the 60's they had time/manpower to harass us kids. The Harley deal, SOP is to remove factory exhaust, replace with straight pipes or some performance system, that helped the Hot Rodder on noise issue, again IMO. Good Luck with your search, Enjoy.
I think about this too, we will be leaving the Atlanta area a few years out. I think it's hard to locate based on this issue alone, but it's a factor. I left the midwest 25 years ago, partly because I learned Georgia is very loose about equipment laws and title/licensing problems. I got a ticket in Hazel Green Wisconsin for Fuzzy Dice obscuring my vision, but that was 30 years ago. Similarly, I know Pennsylvania used to be Draconian in their crazy laws, but today, I think it has gotten better.
Seems to me, that if you find a place like that, it's where you want to live...because the police have nothing better to do than hassle hot rodders. Sounds great! There must be no real crime at all. I haven't found that to be the case anywhere I've been lately, they leave me alone and do their job.
When you have a NFL player kill someone in his Corvette going 156 MPH it doesn't help the image of being a hotrodder....Just happened here in Vegas....
Here in the New Orleans and surrounding metro areas you have to really work at it to get a vehicle violation. Loud pipes on both cars or bikes, no problem. Equipment violations unheard of. Body height requirements no issues. Speeding, is disregarded by law enforcement to the point of absurdity. Really guys in New Orleans city limits it is dangerous to drive at any time due to the amount of vehicles often travelling at nearly twice what normal traffic flow may be. Last week a gang of late model mustangs and mopar guys had a get together at a local parking lot. When they left in mass, all of them were blasting off and through traffic like it was a late race restart at Daytona! For the most part old car guys often sport Loud exhaust and other mods that could garner tickets. Mostly the law leaves them alone because they dont behave in a manor that draws scrutiny from the cops. My son whom is a police officer in New Orleans as well as a hotrodder,tells me vehicles are way down on their priorities of things requiring attending to.
Try that in Cave Creek ! Also the Watson lake car show.. (Prescott) when getting off Fain rd the back way in.. Sign right off the freeway states NO OPEN EXHAUST !
You guys are lucky ... we got the giant stacks-thru-the-bed diesel 1 ton children who lay down smoke like a WWII destroyer screening a carrier.
Around here a stop sign isn't even a suggestion anymore. People flat ass run them at full speed. And don't even get me started about bicyclists and traffic laws. OK Rant over.
I haven't heard of anybody getting a ticket for loud exhaust here in a long time. With the Harley guys running open pipes, I guess they figure it's just a waste of time to harass most folks. Maybe in some of the residential areas in the larger cities it might be enforced, but out here in the rural counties, it's most anything goes....
Hot zone. My take is,,,, keep in mind that there is more cops in High school areas. Any school for that matter.
guess it depends on what side of the road that you live on - this morning a close by neighbor fired up his exotic sports car, with ugly sounding loud pipes, and had it running at various RPMs for about 15 minutes before leaving his place - guess that he had to warm up motor - would have been fine for me if he got a fine - when I lived out in the country would have to look at the road when I heard a Hot Rod going by - had to shut the door when wide open pipes motorcycles went by - I used to ride a Harley
How about the imports with the really annoying fart-can mufflers? For some reason they seem to get a free pass.
Way Back in the Day 1950's I spent some Time in Miami, FL. I went to register my Merc. & the First the Cop said to me is he said I don't think that your car will Pass the Noise Law & it Did Not & He Said to Take off the Smitty Mufflers & Put Regular mufflers The Second thing was two put my Front Door handles on, I had Button's on the bottom of the Rocker Panels, he told me that if I Missed the turn by the river I would end up in the River and he said are you going to tell the Diver the Bottom is under the kick panel of the door. So I Put them on & Finely got my car Registered,. I just wanted to Show that these Law's Have Been around A long Time Just my 3.5 cents Live Learn & Die a Fool
i was a teen in kirkwood, mo., in the '60s, and the cops didn't have anything better to do than hand out muffler tickets to kids. first offense, $10, and went up $5 with each subsequent infraction. today, law enforcement in st. louis could care less...
Hello, So Cal has been a hot bed for high performance for plenty of years. Most of the hot rod guys/girls are a little older, wiser and comply with local law enforcement laws as created by the California DMV. Of course, there are those that have to have a car that makes noise, whether using those cut out by pass fittings or just loud mufflers well over the legal limit for local noise ordinances. There are some that have weekly cars and coffee events and try to tell the enthusiasts to keep the noise down or don’t show up. But, there are those that persist in making some loud noises for one reason or another. Most fall in the category of local So Cal labeled: “idiots in a mustang” group. For some reason, the stock muffler is not loud enough, so modifications happen and then those people try to impress others by accelerating on quiet streets near the car events. So, what happens are a lot of complaints to the city officials, CHP and local law enforcement. Now, after numerous complaints, just driving down the street in the popular coastal towns of Newport Beach, balboa, Laguna Beach, San Clemente and some others have created a consortium of law enforcement. Their goal is to stop and search. Some are let off with fix it tickets and others are given tickets for loud noises above and beyond what is allowed. Jnaki It is a well known fact that some “just don’t get it…” so, the local law enforcement has given notice to everyone that “THEY” are watching and stepping up in enforcement on the local streets. PCH coastal highway runs through the cities and creates a wonderful background, but with those using loud mufflers or straight pipes, that is not enough. Here are samples of local newspaper articles showing the problem and solution. It is not similar to individual rights being violated by giving those with loud mufflers or no mufflers. It is a local noise ordinance that we all follow as we are the residents in those communities. Actually, it is in any community that has local noise ordinances. From loud music to large gatherings, to loud exhaust noises, are those that affect others abiding by the law. Local So Cal newspaper reporting: “Are YOU exhaust-ed by loud vehicles in Newport Beach? This weekend 100+ were cited, 6 drove in excess of 100 mph & 1 stolen car was found. (Newport Beach Police)” “NEWPORT BEACH, CA—Residents and area officials have had enough of loud cars and motorcycles racing through the streets, shattering the sleepy beach-town feel of Newport Beach, police say. Over the weekend Newport Beach Police and California Highway Patrol officers educated over 100 drivers about noise ordinance violations over the weekend. Five were cited for driving over 100 miles per hour during that incident, and one car was found to be stolen, police say.” “This new focused sound ordinance effort is a joint effort with multiple agencies to maintain the beach vibe with residents and visitors to Newport Beach.” "On Sunday, Newport Beach Police Department conducted a joint operation utilizing Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) Patrol and Motor Officers, Newport Beach Code Enforcement, California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and the California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR). T "The Newport Beach Police Department received numerous complaints regarding loud vehicles with modified exhaust as well as racing vehicles traveling throughout the city over the last few months," From the Newport Beach Police Department, many of these types of vehicles gather at non-permitted car shows and other locations within city limits.” "These loud and racing vehicles pose a safety risk and affect the quality of life of our residents and visitors," "As a result, the Newport Beach Police Department stepped up their traffic enforcement during this period and launched a Loud/Modified Vehicle Exhaust and Street Racing Enforcement Operations." “Similar campaigns to quell the exhaust noise have been attempted in beachside cities like Laguna Beach. In 2019, a noise violation program cited over 1,000 drivers over one weekend. California's noise ordinance states that 95 decibels is the legal limit for exhaust systems, though police can "exercise their judgment" if a vehicle causes a nuisance. According to the Laguna Beach Police Department, if it's over 80 decibels, it's too loud for the city.” “A campaign to educate the public on the noise ordinance began in late March and is expected to run through August. Electronic signboards in "high traffic areas" will educate drivers about the state's sound ordinance exhaust laws.” “Police have also spoken with those present at these "non-permitted car shows," traffic stops, and other locations in hopes to educate vehicle owners about the sound ordinance and the Newport Beach Municipal Code as it relates to loud/modified exhaust and street racing.” “Laguna Beach has found a revenue stream that works through the citations. The city needs "to ensure that noise ordinance signs are clearly posted throughout the city," "With Laguna being a major tourist destination, ticketing won't likely have a significant impact on noise unless a significant portion of the offenders are locals." Note: These sound ordinances are not new. The DMV, CHP and local law enforcement have used the laws to stop, search and listen from the early days of hot rodding/drag racing days. There have been numerous laws that show what decibel limits are for each type of vehicle. even with legal, but loud mufflers, we knew how to level the rpms to keep the sound from being obnoxious on those narrow canyon roads. In town, it was tread carefully. You change anything, and the law has the right to give tickets or impound the offending vehicle. Despite what some feel is their right to modify the exhaust sounds to their liking, it is a law and will be enforced… YRMV
i luv the sound of most custom exhaust . but , sometimes it sounds better to the person making the noise than everyone else !! if you try you can almost certainly irritate at least most people . but ,anyone who dosent like split pipes on a 6 shouldnt have ears anyway ! just sayn !...........................
I think small towns are worse about this than the bigger ones. I grew up in a small town and the only ticket I ever got was for loud mufflers. I had glasspacks on but no tailpipes. I moved to a bigger town and the trucks and Harleys here are far louder than my old car was. Like stated earlier, I think in the bigger towns the cops are more concerned with actual crime.