For immediate release
July 19, 2022

Contact:
Larry Deal
[email protected]

Ted Rueter
[email protected]
877-664-7366

Chapel Hill: The New Hampshire state legislature and Governor Chris Sununu have won this month’s Noisy Dozen award from Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet for enacting a “motorcycle rights” bill, designed to shield motorcyclists from noise violations.

HB 1000 is titled “Prohibiting Motorcycle Profiling.” Incredibly, the bill passed both chambers of the state legislature by voice vote. New Hampshire becomes the fifth state with a law protecting motorcyclists from “profiling.”

The new law states:

“No state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency shall engage in motorcycle profiling. Motorcycle profiling shall mean use of the fact that a person rides a motorcycle or wears motorcycle-related paraphernalia as a basis for deciding to stop and question, take enforcement action, arrest, or search a person or vehicle under the United States Constitution or the New Hampshire constitution.”

“Apparently, the bikers believe that somehow the United States and New Hampshire constitutions provide a ‘right’ to make noise,” said Larry Deal, a member of Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet. “I can see it now: a biker is stopped for thunderously loud noise. He tells the cop: ‘Don’t you dare cite me or I will sue you for violating my civil rights.’”

The pro-biker bill is a priority project of so-called “motorcycle rights” organizations, such as the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. The bill is designed to persuade law enforcement agencies to not cite motorcyclists for noise violations—under the pretense that illegally loud motorcycles are being “profiled.”

The bikers are also pursuing federal “motorcycle profiling” legislation. H. Res 366, introduced by Michigan Republican Congressman Tim Walberg, has 101 co-sponsors.

Ted Rueter, director of Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet, noted that “many bikers claim that being cited for noise violations is ‘profiling’ and ‘targeting.’ This is totally ridiculous. Bikers need to keep their noise levels down, just like everyone else. There should not be a ‘protected class’ for noisemakers.”

Rueter concluded, “The vast majority of motorcycle riders remove or alter their exhaust system—a direct violation of the federal Noise Control Act of 1972. Excessive motorcycle noise is a threat to peace and quiet and public safety.”

Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet is a national citizens’ organization devoted to noise reduction. Past “winners” of the Noisy Dozen award include Bikers for Trump, the Pennsylvania Harley Owners Group, and the Milwaukee Motorcycle Rally.