Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet
For immediate release
January 31, 2022
Contact:
Ted Rueter
[email protected]
877-664-7366
Chapel Hill: The New York state legislature and the Governor of New York have won a “Healthy Soundscape” award from Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet for passing and signing the “SLEEP” Act, intended to reduce motor vehicle noise in the Empire State.
The SLEEP Act (Stop Loud and Excessive Exhaust Pollution) was introduced by state Senator Andrew Gounardes of Brooklyn and state Assembly member Bill Magnarelli of Syracuse; the bill was recently signed by Governor Kathy Hochul.
The introduction to the bill (S. 784B) states that its purpose is “to increase enforcement against motorists and repair shops that illegally modify mufflers and exhaust systems to make them excessively noisy for motor vehicles and motorcycles.” Section one of the bill makes it “illegal to sell, offer for sale, or install a cut-out, bypass, or similar device for the muffler or exhaust system of a motor vehicle or motorcycle. The fine for a violation would be up to $1000.”
The second section of the bill raises “the fine to $500 for a violation of the law prohibiting operating a motorcycle with altered exhaust systems.”
The bill is necessary, the New York legislature notes, because “an increasing number of car and motorcycle enthusiasts are making modifications to increase the noise and pollution levels emitted. This trend is leading to multiple noise complaints, especially from residents in areas where illegal street drag racing takes place. Excessive noise is not simply an annoyance or inconvenience; the World Health Organization has labeled it an ‘underestimated threat,’ and in a country where one in four people will suffer from loss of hearing, it represents an undue burden on people who do not have the resources to protect themselves from it.”
Band aid on a heart attack! Cut outs and bypasses are a drop in the ocean of the total reason there are so many loud exhausts on our streets! States have no ability to ‘outlaw the sale’ of the aftermarket mufflers being sold by multinational corporations in their states. Only the federal government can do that, and they did just that when they passed the Noise Control Act as part of the Clean Air Act in the 1970’s. The only way to end the sale of competition mufflers for use on our streets is to get Congress to adequately fund the EPA’s Office of Noise Abatement and Control once again! The noise problem is only a symptom of the corruption in our government at every level. We have an oligarchy of billionaires and corporations that run the country, and you can’t address the noise problem without addressing the underlying influence of big money in Washington. https://www.fastcompany.com/90425732/the-united-states-of-inequality-a-timeline?fbclid=IwAR1jyMOxVsUWL_XRZDfE8olM6Ai4pqpRBXNCjMxyhnvsSLZ3JCedUpl0byE
Vote with your wallet have a sharp eye if you see trades people who are employing people with no mufflers or don’t have decent equipment on there vehicles not only should you not do business with them but tell them why you’re not doing business with them this also goes for professional people i e law firms who show their attorneys sitting on motorcycles or roaring off into the sunset to defend a hapless Fallen biker who, five will get you ten didn’t have a muffler on their fallen motorcycle either
Hooray for the roadside ticketing machines Canada has those you go by too much noise photo taken ticket issued it bypasses enforcement who in my opinion are a big part of the noise problem when they’re off duty not only are these child police officers making that much and more noise themselves they’re reluctant to ticket anybody else who’s breaking the law like they are! The auto ticketing machine takes them out of the loop and I don’t know why we can’t have that type of thing on a state level why we have to fund it at a federal level unless it’s just to get the machines but we should be able to do that on a county or Parish level as well