Calgary Police using new tool to crack down on noisy vehicles
Posted August 1, 2014 6:53 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (NEWS1130) – They are one of the most annoying things about summer in the city: loud motorcycles and cars with mufflers that make them sound more like a World War II fighter jets.
Police in Calgary now have a new tool to help them deal with noisy vehicles.
Starting this month, police will be using a meter that registers decibel levels to help them in cracking down on overly loud vehicles.
“Vehicles make a lot of noise, whether it’s a truck, car, or motorcycle. But what we’re looking at are those that make an excessive noise, that are going out of their way to cause problems,” says Sergeant Dean Vegso with Calgary Police.
“We’re focusing on that vehicle that’s… trying to make the noise. And we’ll watch those decibel levels spike up to 100-110. So, we don’t need the instrument to get a conviction on that charge, but it’ll assist us,” he adds.
If drivers in Calgary have an excessively loud car, they could face a $115 fine.
According to VPD, the allowable decibel reading for motorcycles is less than 92 and ear damage can occur at 85 decibels or higher. During a crackdown in Vancouver last summer, police checked over 50 motorcycles and cars and found 19 were too loud.
