Vehicle Noise

A Letter To the Philadelphia Police Commissioner

Vehicle noise is degrading the quality of life in Northwest Philadelphia.

According to Environmental Health Perspectives journal, long-term exposure to road traffic noise increases the risk of developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease. A study undertaken by Devi Singh, Neeraj Kumari, and Pooja Sharma concluded that road traffic noise is a threat to human health. Populations residing along busy traffic lanes are continuously exposed to sound levels that are above permissible limits. This constant exposure causes irritation and annoyance, sleep disturbances, cardiovascular disease, risk of stroke, diabetes, hypertension and loss of hearing. It also results in decreased work performance.

Pennsylvania law limits the volume of music in public. It also addresses vehicle engine noise levels.

• Mufflers are required on all vehicles and must prevent unusual or excessive noise.
• Headers and side exhausts are permitted if the remainder of the exhaust system limits the noise emitted by the engine and they do not increase the sound beyond the maximum decibel levels described below.
• Muffler cutouts and bypasses are not permitted.
• Motor vehicles traveling up to 35 MPH must not exceed 88 decibels.
• Motor vehicles traveling over 35 MPH must not exceed 92 decibels.

Noise Source	Decibel Level	Decibel Effect
Thunderclap, chain saw, oxygen torch (121 dB).	120	Painful. 32 times as loud as 70 dB.
Auto horn at 1 meter.	110	Average human pain threshold. 16 times as loud as 70 dB.
Power lawn mower, motorcycle, jackhammer, garbage truck.	100	8 times as loud as 70 dB. Serious damage possible in 8 hr exposure.
Passenger car at 65 mph at 25 ft (77 dB). Living room music (76 dB); radio or TV-audio, vacuum cleaner.	70	Upper 70s are annoyingly loud to some people.
Conversation in restaurant, office, background music.	60	Half as loud as 70 dB. Fairly quiet.

Barbara Williams is a resident of Snyder county, central Pennsylvania. She notes that improperly muffled vehicles “is a problem statewide. It’s been happening since the 1970s, so now about one in every ten vehicles violates state law. Police don’t cite these drivers that rip off the stock exhaust, and inspection stations keep passing them. Motorcycles, cars, pick-ups, and big rigs follow EPA guidelines as they leave the factory. Then knucklehead drivers go to a custom shop to buy and install non-compliant exhaust systems.”

The police, the Department of Transportation, and state inspection stations continue to ignore exhaust system rules. PUB 45, Vehicle Equipment and Inspection Regulations, 175.5 states that “a vehicle specified under this subchapter shall be equipped with a muffler in good working order” and that “the exhaust system of a vehicle may not be modified in a manner which will amplify or increase noise above maximum levels.”

EPA regulations require that vehicles have stock mufflers once they leave the factory floor. However, after-market stores will sell you anything and custom shops will install whatever you want—in clear violation of state and federal law.

Williams took some noise measurements of her own: “One motorcycle with no muffler read 91 db on my sound meter. A loud car with glass packs read 98 db. A diesel pick-up with a cut-out pipe through the bed was 99 db. A local dig rig with big exhaust stacks but no muffler was over 99 db.”

Pennsylvania state law gives police officers the right to inspect or test a vehicle, and the driver must let them test the loud exhaust. Police may obtain and carry an OSHA-compliance type 2 decibel meter for under $50. If they see an altered exhaust system or hear a vehicle much louder than stock vehicles, the police should pull them over. If a motorcycle has no muffler, it’s too loud. If a car has glass packs, the exhaust has been made louder. If a pick-up has one big exhaust pipe up through the bed, that placement is illegal, it has no muffler, and it’s above decibel limits.

According to Williams, “People shouldn’t have to hear loud exhausts inside their homes with the windows shut. Go to the races to hear loud exhausts. Fine the drivers and garages and loud exhaust will cease to exist!”

Ted Rueter, director of Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet, commented that “the nation is increasingly overrun with extreme noise from loud exhausts. Many people seem not to realize that removing or altering an exhaust system for the purpose of making additional noise is a violation of federal and state law. The police, state transportation departments, and state inspection stations should do their jobs, enforce noise laws, and allow Americans to live in peace and quiet.”

It’s not okay that people inside their own homes should be disrupted from their quiet activities, have their heart rates double, and have to wait for 5 seconds…or 5 minutes for the sounds to subside so they can return to what they were doing. People in our neighborhoods tend to retreat to their back yards, not because they are unfriendly but because of recurring events of cars with altered, noise-producing exhaust systems. When we’re home we want relief from work and societal tensions. Noisy vehicles insist there is no escape. Noise-aggressors take pleasure in imposing themselves on others. And they get away with it because they stay on the move. 

Why do men (and I’m sure it’s mostly men) take pleasure in loud cars? It’s all about the impression of power. When we were kids we would tie balloons on bike frames so we could make the buppita-buppita sound as the spokes rubbed across the balloons. Good for the kids—it’s a perfectly good juvenile behavior. But we don’t need grown-ups behaving like juveniles, especially when the noises they make are 10 times greater and do actual physical damage. 

The same thing goes for loud music. Sometimes the music source is outdoor parties, but it is more likely to originate from passing vehicles. Why do people turn their sound systems to levels that damage their ears, as well as severely impede their ability to hear warning horns and people screaming? Sure, people love their music, and higher volume lends itself to music immersion, but with car windows down, and with the car body buzzing, we’re talking more about cultural imposition than personal joy. There also is a strong correlation between music volume and offensive language. (When did toxic verbal assault become acceptable just because it’s dressed up a bit with rhythm?) This kind of behavior is about angry people infecting others with their anger.

Northwest Philadelphia is blessed with one of the finest green spaces in the world: the beautiful, wooded, Wissahickon Valley Park. The park, over 2000 acres, is more than twice the size of Central Park in New York City. It is heavily used by hikers, bikers, runners, and horseback riders. People head for the preserve to breathe in nature, to listen to the rippling Wissahickon Creek, to delight in the enveloping trees, and to enjoy the twitters of birds. The sounds of the city disappear in the park, even though the park is completely within Philadelphia. That is, except for the sounds of the intentionally offensive noise-generating “hot cars” that cruise nearby streets, particularly Walnut Lane, Henry Avenue, Lincoln Drive, and even Roosevelt Blvd— Philadelphia’s Crash Queen. These cars rumble by all too often, sometimes in packs, disturbing the most blissful afternoons in the park. Like those who spray graffiti on bridge pillars, or those who leave trash on the trails, these noise-polluters steal tranquility from their neighbors.

The noise is a constant headache, but the noise is not a stand-alone issue. Those who like to make noise tend to practice rabbit accelerations. This is, of course, terrible on gas mileage. Sure, it’s their money but it’s everyone else who has to smell the fumes. It’s everyone’s environment that is being degraded. It’s America’s fuel reserves that are being pointlessly squandered.

Noise-polluters tend to drive fast and aggressively. Theytake perverse pleasure in intimidating other drivers. They approach quickly to tailgate, effectively demanding other drivers to get out of the way. They weave through traffic, passing too closely to other vehicles. Most drivers are unnerved by this kind of aggression, sometimes to the extent that they crash. Loud vehicles at high speeds endanger all citizens. 

Good driving on public roads is about being deliberate, predictable, and mindful of speed limits. Good driving is a boring, but effective means of transportation. Noise-polluters think that good driving is about fast reflexes, aggression, and being the first to the next traffic light. Noise-polluters, more than other drivers, are not actually going anywhere. They’re mostly just seeking attention, driving in circles, clogging up the streets, and disturbing the neighborhoods. Police should grant them the attention they seek.

No doubt, Philadelphia police have higher priority issues than vehicle noise enforcement. However, that does not mean lesser priorities can be ignored. When lawlessness flaunts itself before the public and is allowed to continue unchecked, it becomes an invitation for other sorts of lawlessness. Vehicle noise lawlessness is the the first wave of an assault. It must be stopped before neighborhoods are overwhelmed. 

I am well aware that police throughout the country have been in the cross-hairs of the media and public protests. I wish I could apologize for my fellow citizens. They are paying attention to myopic news coverage, not the facts. I hold police in the highest regard. The police live dangerously every day, managing difficult, dangerous, and frequently ungrateful people. I am thankful to have a police force that seeks to keep the peace and protect law-abiding citizens.

I know that police officers are not fond of traffic stops, due to the inherent danger. However, I believe that if noise-polluters are stopped the same way speeders are stopped (and frankly, there is way too little of that going on), the stop could and should be short and sweet. 

Enforcement could begin with warning tickets, giving offenders several weeks to make corrections on their vehicles. Fines should be categorized as moving violations, which would discourage the practice of changing one noisy vehicle for another. Fines should be progressive, with records maintained on a rolling 5-year basis. A second offense could result in a $100 fine; a third offense a $250 fine; fourth offense a $500 fine; fifth offense, immediate impoundment of the vehicle. Points should be assigned in order to impact vehicle insurance.

This is America, where living free runs thick in the veins of most citizens. But freedom is not equivalent to a license to be purposefully offensive. The fact is, I am not asking for new laws; I am only requesting that the good laws currently on the books be enforced.

Thank you for your patient reading of this letter and, again, for the sacrificial work of the police force in serving our community.