On Wed, 9 Mar 2005, Jim Yanik wrote:

> > OK. Define "noise pollution" for us

> Taking the manufacturer's (stock) muffler off and installing a noisier
> one.

That's a nonstarter. If Chrysler will no longer sell me a muffler for my
1962 Dodge, and so I install a Walker or Goerlich aftermarket replacement,
and it's even fractionally louder than the original 1962 item, my car
flunks your poorly-thought-out standard of "noise pollution". If I install
a muffler on my truck that's louder than the original BUT no louder than
some other vehicle with a factory muffler, my truck flunks your
ill-considered standard of "noise pollution".

And if the standard is "no noisier than original equipment", then who's
going to collect and maintain the necessary database of noise levels from
all the different OE variants of all the different models of all the
different cars over the years? And what's the standard, is it "when the
car is brand new"? Is it "When the car is 3 years old"? Is it "When the
car is driven by at 30mph, measured at street level 10 feet away"? Is it
"When the car is revved in Neutral, measured 2 feet from the tailpipe"?

And what kind of sound meters are we going to equip cops with to measure
exhaust noise objectively? You and I both know what's too noisy and what's
not, but that's unconsitutionally vague and leaving it to the discretion
of individual cops is fraught with unintended consequences.

Just to save you some time, here's another equally-useless attempts at
exhaust noise control laws:

"No vehicle shall have an exhaust tailpipe or outlet that is of a larger
size than original equipment". Terrific, what if I install a system on my
'71 Volvo that has a 2-1/4" tailpipe, but is *quieter* than the original
system with its 1-7/8" tailpipe? Bzzt, doesn't work.

Next idea?

DS