By Paul Scott
Last year, a group of 17 members of the Assembly Budget Committee inserted a rider in an otherwise unrelated bill (AB 1824) that changed the penalties in the CA vehicle code for operating a vehicle with an illegal exhaust. The bill passed quietly with no opposition presumably because those affected were unaware of it. Our own Assembly Member Richard Bloom voted yes, so kudos to him for wanting to protect his constituents!
Prior to this change, a motorcycle rider with loud pipes, or a person driving a car with loud pipes, might be pulled over, but the penalty was a mere $25 fine and a “fix it ticket”. This meant the vehicle owner had to replace the illegal pipes with legal ones and have it inspected by the state before operating it. Of course, the penalty was so low, and the chance of getting pulled over so slight, they would just replace the legal pipes with the loud ones again. Because of this weak penalty, Santa Monica police wrote only 11 tickets for loud pipes over the past five years! The loud pipes crowd learned they could disturb our peace anytime, anywhere with no penalty.
The new penalty is a mandatory fine of $1,000, and there is no longer the option of a fix it ticket. That got their attention!
The reason the rider option was used, essentially hiding the provision in another bill, is because the manufacturers of loud aftermarket exhausts are now a big lobby. They attack any effort to reign in these law breakers who assault our communities with extremely loud vehicles, and they marshall thousands of bike riders and car enthusiasts who like loud pipes to assist in the lobbying effort.
If you want to see what kind of people we are talking about, Google AB 1824 and watch the dozens of videos produced by angry young men (they are virtually all young men), and read the comments. These people talk openly about making as much noise as possible without any regard to the harm they cause to innocent people. People, I might add, who have a legal right to the quiet enjoyment of their property.
Petitions have been started to overturn the law and thousands have signed. AB 390 was introduced to overturn this law and allow loud vehicles to once again run rampant with no penalties. It’s as though the state took a stick and clobbered a hornet’s nest. These are very angry young men. I’m certain Assembly Member Bloom will vote against this new bill, but it could pass.
I have worked with the Santa Monica City Council and SMPD for over four years to get them to ticket loud motorcycles riding through our community. For most of that time, there was little interest from the City to deal with the problem, but after Cynthia Renaud was named Chief of police, I was informed by the head of the traffic division, Captain Darrick Jacob, they would now begin ticketing loud bikes. This change took place toward the end of last year, but after hearing about this new law, Captain Jacob informed me that it would help in their efforts to rid our streets of the problem. I thought at the time that this was good news and a real turning point in our city.
I appear to have been misinformed. Since January, I have asked Captain Jacob three times how many tickets the Santa Monica PD has issued for loud pipes, and his response was – crickets. Nothing. I can only assume that no tickets have been written for loud pipes and that the SMPD is not enforcing this law. Certainly, the daily assault by loud vehicles continues, so the loud pipes crowd feels it’s safe to make all the noise they want. They sure aren’t afraid of Santa Monica’s police department.
All year long, Santa Monica residents have to put up with these extremely loud vehicles disrupting our peace and quiet. It is the job of our police to protect us from these law breakers, and our state legislature gave them a good law with teeth to use against them, but our police department apparently refuses to enforce the law as it was intended.
Clearly they don’t consider it a priority. That’s too bad because it’s an easy problem to fix. If the PD were to write an article for this local paper informing the loud pipes crowd that they are going to aggressively enforce the law on loud vehicles, and then follow up by having their patrol officers listen for, and ticket, these law breakers, it won’t be long before those with loud pipes either replace them with legal factory pipes, or stop riding through Santa Monica.
Every time you hear one of these exceptionally loud vehicles in your neighborhood, or blasting you as you eat at an outside cafe, just know that your police department has deemed that action OK, and that in spite of the law, they will not protect you from that bad actor.
If you want your police department to enforce this law, call or email Captain Darrick Jacobs, Police Chief Cynthia Renaud, and be sure to let your City Council members know as well. They have the power to instruct the police chief to enforce the law, but they need to hear from you, so make noise to end the noise!
All City employees as well as the Council Members contact info can be found here: https://www.smgov.net/departments/council/ and https://santamonicapd.org
For background on the health issues related to noise, refer to Noise Free America: https://noisefree.org.
These illegally modified bikes are an assault upon all in the community, including the hearing- sensitive dogs and other animals. Hopefully, SMPD will no longer ignore the state and federal laws concerning these purposely noisy bikes.
One of the highest values of this nation is freedom. So, why the vast majority of people will not react in any way to the act of terrorism aimed to disrupt their freedom to enjoy peace and quiet of their property? The only reason for installing loud, modified (and illegal) exhaust is to get that kind of pleasure from knowing, that the noise you are producing is actually harming people. This is not only a psychopathic behavior, but an act of terrorism as well. Bikers may of course say that making that obnoxious noise is the manifestation of american freedom. They don’t know what freedom is. Wrongdoing is not to be mistaken with freedom. It is said that police will not protect us from that evil.
Many thanks to the author of above article for recognizing that problem and sharing it with us.
It’s very sad, that police can’t protect us from evil anymore. And noise which is made only for the purpose of insulting somebody’s ears is evil. People doing it and taking pleasure in harassing and assaulting others with obnoxious noise should be called psychopaths. But there’s something interesting in that, or at least should be from the perspective of a psychologist or psychiatrist. Most of their victims do nothing to protect themselves. They pretend, that this is normal. That this noise is just an expression of American Freedom, besides that we should be a welcoming and tolerant society. In my opinion, this is also a sign of mental disorder, just from another category of mental disorders.
Many thanks for the author of above article for recognizing the problem of excessive motorcycle noise and letting us know.
Thank you, Paul, for your efforts to make our communities quiet. How the noise-makers have gotten out of control continues to puzzle me. Where I live in Napa Valley, loud Harleys have been able to make all the noise they wanted for years, but now it has been joined by loud diesel pickups and modified small cars. It is a bit like like the speeds of cars on freeways now, more and more people going 100 mph without getting cited. If nothing is done to address a problem, it can keep getting worse as more people realize it’s acceptable, and so join the party. Vehicular noise is just one example of law enforcement gone lame.
While I live in the midwest, far from California, I feel your pain. While our coming winter is not good news for most of us here with the cold and less daylight, there is one saving grace – fewer motorcycles that are such an “earsore.” That may not be a word, but if not, it should be!
Dick McLane, Springfield, IL
Thank you for your perseverance. My city and neighborhood in Northern San Diego County has been plagued with this problem daily for over 7 years now. The behavior is sociopathic and constitutes “aural rape”. It is accompanied with the “broken windows” effect on my neighborhood with increased theft, vandalism, loitering and illegal drug use/dealing. I once waved down a pickup with loud pipes in front of my home. His female companion told me I should move if I don’t like it. I have given up complaining to law enforcement esp. after one deputy told me to accept it because I live in a “blue collar” neighborhood. Doesn’t “blue collar” include first responders, veterans and active duty military? Many of whom work late evening and night shifts and have varying degrees of PTSD due to their occupations? It becomes a public health issue at some point and it does also have negative consequences for animals and the environment. By the way, not all the drivers are angry young men. Sometimes they look like soccer Moms and baby boomers!
Indirect or direct responsibility makes no difference in this issue. The fact is, “We the People” have historically decided on public way enforcement efforts for traffic soundscape pollution. Though the final institutional decision is not popular to a minority of people, it does reflect the Constitutional principle of a citizens right to be found innocent while the burden of proof is on the accuser to prove the preponderance of evidence, before a court ordered fine is issued as a behavioral deterrent. This means it is the complainers who are directly and indirectly at fault for the unwanted sound energy they experience by public activity code violators, because they overwhelmingly protect the rights of the accused. For matters of invisible energy sources produced by breach of statutory sound code use, this means effective sound enforcement efforts will always produce an environment of heavy noise pollution. My concept here is not a secret. Any person within earshot of a traffic soundscape understands this basic fundamental principle by what travels from what obvious source up their ear canals. To reverse this environmental concern, “We the People” must reverse the current jurisprudence method to find an obvious traffic code violator guilty before the accused must provide definitive evidence to the contrary. This my friendly noise-off complainers will never happen in this free country. Who do you think the sick psychological people are now?
A guy living in Sunset Park owns a very loud motorcycle. Earlier today, he seemed to be riding it in circles around the neighborhood, making a ton of [exhaust] noise. The noise from that bike is not a new issue but in the past, I didn’t know if there was recourse as I sometimes work from home and it was extremely loud when he would ride down the street. Recently, a neighbor down the block gave birth to a newborn, and given tonight’s ordeal, I started looking deeper into what are warranted steps to take as a concerned neighbor. Despite AB 1824 being in place, and even if police were willing to enforce the action, it seems difficult for police to catch the bike in action. One way to catch the biker would be if they somehow were here on our small street to witness when the guy’s leaving his apartment (he usually rides very loudly down our very small street). This seems highly improbable. Anyone have any suggestions on what to do about this situation? I know where the guy lives, and it seems he rides loudly down our small street seemingly as a willful act. If I call the police, can they show up at his door to ask him if they can check his exhaust based on neighbor’s reports? This would be at least one less noisy bike in the area if they could get the guy to fix his exhaust. Any other suggestions someone may have would also be appreciated.
A guy living in Sunset Park owns a very loud motorcycle. Earlier today, he seemed to be riding it in circles around the neighborhood, making a ton of [exhaust] noise. The noise from that bike is not a new issue but in the past, I didn’t know if there was recourse as I sometimes work from home and it was extremely loud when he would ride down the street. Recently, a neighbor down the block gave birth to a newborn, and given tonight’s ordeal, I started looking deeper into what are warranted steps to take as a concerned neighbor. Despite AB 1824 being in place, and even if police were willing to enforce the action, it seems difficult for police to catch the bike in action. One way to catch the biker would be if they somehow were here on our small street to witness when the guy’s leaving his apartment (he usually rides very loudly down our very small street). This seems highly improbable. Anyone have any suggestions on what to do about this situation? I know where the guy lives, and it seems he rides loudly down our small street seemingly as a willful act. If I call the police, can they show up at his door to ask him if they can check his exhaust based on neighbor’s reports? This would be at least one less noisy bike in the area if they could get the guy to fix his exhaust. Any other suggestions someone may have would also be appreciated.
Lets be crystal clear. This issue will never be fixed. The police don’t care and make excuses for not executing the law. The moron class that buy these audio assault vehicles are sociopaths and don’t care.
So the only solution is either move or to have all the morons on these bikes die.
So if moving is not a valid option for you it leaves you one option and that one is also illegal.