Exhaust laws heads up

[mole_ep91]

Hey all, i got stopped the other night in chesterfield town center by traffic cops. Granted it was for havin my fogs on but then they got onto my exhaust. I have got a Kakimoto back box which came on car when i imported it. But apparently they said it was an offence to have anything other than a standard exhaust on the car and that jus the back box i have got is to loud. And then gave me a defect form to have it removed and replaced with a standard one. Just thought i'd give everyone a heads up in the area, dont know if its same anywere else. Dont know if i have posted this in right place though.

Adam

 

[Beaker]

Thats not true. But if it is too loud you will have to change it.

 

[mole_ep91]

well i have acctually rung up our area traffic police station and asked then what the acctual legal db limit on the road cos i know its bout 103 db to pass an sva, but they couldn't give me an actual limit for the road. My mate has got a civic with a spoon back box and decat and that way louder n he's been pulled loads with it and they aint sed anythin to him bout it. Jus thought it was rather unfair tbh.

adam

 

[Adam_Glanza]

wat if you cant find a standard backbox ? you cant get 1 from toyota aswell surely thats fucked up mate

 

[GTdan]

95db rings a bell.......did they actually test the loudness of it, if so they are unable to enforce it as there is no proof, unless they are robots and able to say your exhaust is 120db!"

 

[Adam_Glanza]

yes like many cops he was probably the billiondollar man..

 

[Dave@TM-developments.com]

This comes under one of the ASBO rules. Basically it states " any exhaust system fitted to a car which makes it louder than a standard exhaust is illegal"

Never admit to an exhaust being non standard. If they want to pursue the matter insist a test is carried out as its extremely hard to enforce

 

[Monkfish]

This has been discussed many many times before and the Law seems to vary depending on who you ask. I have always gone by the 110dB rule, although some say it is a little lower than that and others say that anything louder than standard is illegal.

Looking at www.vosa.gov.uk and searching for "Excessive Exhaust Noise", I have found This, which I presume is an extract from the MOT manual. The bit of most interest/relevance is...

2. With the engine running assess the
effectiveness of the silencer(s) in reducing
as far as is reasonable the noise emitted.

A silencer that is in such a condition or is
of such a type that the noise emitted is
clearly in excess of that which would be
produced by a similar machine fitted with
a standard silencer in average condition.

Which is basically saying that anything louder than stock would constitute an MOT failure, which would mean that said item was illegal. What is also quite interesting and may affect some is...

Check the silencer(s) on all machines for
any unacceptable markings.

A silencer marked ‘NOT FOR ROAD
USE’, ‘TRACK USE ONLY’ or
similar words.

Make of that what you will.

 

[Blak_Mamber]

Traffic pigs dont have anything to test DB's on the road side. Think the limit is around 98DB's...... They will just make you change it/fine you as you cant really argue with them tbh... ive had this a few times, never changed it though

 

[mole_ep91]

Sounds about rite mate lol No they tested nowt, they just asked if it was standard fit, and if it was louder than standard i just said dont know. So got me to start car and judged it on idle. I had jus bin to pick bird up from town an it wo 2 in mornin so i dint even rev it over 3, so how they managed to guess it wo too loud i dnt know. But like i said to thepne i spoke to on fone, if u cant tell me a legal db limit for the road, which he couldn't how can u tell me its to loud??

Adam

 

[GTdan]

Sounds about rite mate lol No they tested nowt, they just asked if it was standard fit, and if it was louder than standard i just said dont know. So got me to start car and judged it on idle. I had jus bin to pick bird up from town an it wo 2 in mornin so i dint even rev it over 3, so how they managed to guess it wo too loud i dnt know. But like i said to thepne i spoke to on fone, if u cant tell me a legal db limit for the road, which he couldn't how can u tell me its to loud??

Adam

if they dont test it with a reader - how can they tell how loud it is, and if they dont know what the legal lemit is, then thats double stupid.

Do you have to take it to a garage to get them to sign it or out and return it the police? or is just a warning to get it changed?

 

[mole_ep91]

well its been on road a week mate so just gone through its mot which i told them. But they gave me a defect form so it gotta b sent back stamped by an mot garage, so i jus took it to a garage and they stamed it cos it passed emissions and everythin so they dont know if i have changed it or not.

 

[GTdan]

well its been on road a week mate so just gone through its mot which i told them. But they gave me a defect form so it gotta b sent back stamped by an mot garage, so i jus took it to a garage and they stamed it cos it passed emissions and everythin so they dont know if i have changed it or not.

job done

 

[Dub-Se7en]

i have been all through this with mine when it was NA. i got it down to 92db and they still failed it.

this was a vosa roadside check btw, i then had to take the car for testing at a vosa test centre where they did the test from 1metre and at a 45degree angle from the exhaust tip. i was then told to take the revs up to 4500rpm and they took the measurement then.

a real pain in the arse, i hope i don't get pulled again

EDIT: i was also told 'if it sounds louder than the standard system we will fail it'

 

[mole_ep91]

Same here mate hopfully it'll be ok now. Jus think his wife musta not bin givin him any so took it out on me. Most cops have been fine bout all other cars i've had. Cheers for all advice guys, as i like to think 'loud pipes save lives'

 

[GTti]

Waste of time.

One rule for car owners another for bike or supercar owners?

"Yes 110db is fine sir because that's what a noisey bugger it was in the factory?"

 

[mickscanlon]

ya i got stopped before same shit went to court payed 100 euro fine never changed the exaust. its all bullshit ta get a bit ov cash... fuckn hate guards.. :holdit::shoot:

 

[Harvey]

As been said the law i believe states anything louder then stock is illegal.

However us having an import does that give us a nice little loophole again!?? Cos our cars were never sold here how can they prove its louder then stock!??

I got pulled last year and h commented on ym exhaust! Looked at it and was like bloody hell its like a straight through with no silencers!! (WEPR) haha. He did say that if it was day time he would have called out an inspector and sound tested it which he reckons it would have failed! I should have questioned him more asking 'what is the legal limit' but at the time i did not know the confusion over the law! I just told him its queit enough to go on castle coombe so cant be that loud! he just ramled oh thats a race track though we are on the public highway blah blah! He was an ok cop tho he picked up my plates were not E marked but said i can read them clear so not fussed. And that my toyo sidewalls were all but missing :haha:

 

[Sparky]

Waste of time.

One rule for car owners another for bike or supercar owners?

"Yes 110db is fine sir because that's what a noisey bugger it was in the factory?"

Totally Agree!!

How can they justify that when possibly there are louder cars coming out the factory than say, a Starlet with a aftermarket exhaust

Fucking pigs, if they cant find nothing wrong with my car they usually say, "oh, your exhaust is too loud anyway, on your way"

Never gave a defect form for it though

 

[Nwimie]

well i got stopped by VOSA a few months ago and they gave my nur spec a DB test came out 98db and passed as they said the limit was 100db :] so i would get your mate to challenge it.