Got pulled over today..

[Murchie]

Soo..

While casually driving/ sticking to the speed limit on Ellesmere road in Scarborough, a unmarked van pulls up beside me..they honk, and yell at me to pull over. Having to concentrate on the road infront of me and looking over to see who they are..i could not make out whether they were uniformed officers or just students of Toronto Police Foundation ( save the comments..i know the difference but couldnt tell while driving). As they keep yelling at me to pull over, i tell them to identify them self and turn on the siren/lights. Driver of the van pulls behind me and pulls out red reflector light. After seeing that, i decided to turn right onto Kennedy and go to the closet police station. However, traffic builds up on Kennedy and as we come to a stop, the passenger of the van..which i now can identify as a police officer because of the gun holster, badge number etc approaches the car. Both officers come up to either side of the car and exchange words..when the officer on my side decides to put in hands inside my car and pull my keys and tells me to pull over in the plaza. Long story short...i was very fluent in communicating the reasons why i did not stop and gathering their information to file a formal complaint.

I got a soft ticket for unnecessary noise. I got a RS exhaust. His explanation for excessive noise was in part asking me whether the exhaust was too loud and him wanting to call the Nissan dealership and find out whether the exhaust i have is legal

My question to the forum. How do i prove that my exhaust is not excessively loud?..

The officer basically used his own opinion on whats excessive noise because he didn't use any equipment or use of specific terminology to explain what made the exhaust loud. I'm running a cat on the exhaust as well..

Look forward to hearing from you guys

[r33_gtst]

Unnecessary noise is one of those HTA offenses that is very vague, can be applied to loud music, exhaust, horn honking ect
Exercise your rights and take it to court. Your reason being the noise wasn't unnecessary, it's the sound produced by the car
It's up to the officer to articulate how it was unnecessary, you probably got it because you didn't stop in the first place
That being said, you didn't know it was an officer, which I guess you can explain
And don't take a plea to a reduced fine, say you want it withdrawn or to go to trial
They do lot to avoid trials so don't be intimidated by the prosecutor

[R32monster]

you should have given him the finger

[Murchie]

Unnecessary noise is one of those HTA offenses that is very vague, can be applied to loud music, exhaust, horn honking ect
Exercise your rights and take it to court. Your reason being the noise wasn't unnecessary, it's the sound produced by the car
It's up to the officer to articulate how it was unnecessary, you probably got it because you didn't stop in the first place
That being said, you didn't know it was an officer, which I guess you can explain
And don't take a plea to a reduced fine, say you want it withdrawn or to go to trial
They do lot to avoid trials so don't be intimidated by the prosecutor

'r33_gtst' knows what his talking about.I been to court multiple times and the once i actually wanted to fight a ticket..the prosecutor intimidated me into pleading guilty!. I'm definitely taking this to court and holding strong on taking it to trial.

HOwever, what reason could i use to want them to withdraw the ticket?

[r33_gtst]

Tell them you were issued a ticket you don't feel was necessary
Tell them it's not about the money, it's te principle and an unnecessary blemish on your record
Don't forget fines are to generate $$$ for the city, the courts in Toronto are a joke compared to Durham, peel or York.
Good insurance could be getting a decibel test done so you can prove its within legal limitations.
Further, the officer will have little evidence for an offence like that and if you request a trial the prosecutor will ask the officer if they have evidence to proceed which he will say he doesn't. there is little chance he wrote the required evidence and assumes the prosecutor wil give you a lesser fine.

[Murchie]

Tell them you were issued a ticket you don't feel was necessary
Tell them it's not about the money, it's te principle and an unnecessary blemish on your record
Don't forget fines are to generate $$$ for the city, the courts in Toronto are a joke compared to Durham, peel or York.
Good insurance could be getting a decibel test done so you can prove its within legal limitations.
Further, the officer will have little evidence for an offence like that and if you request a trial the prosecutor will ask the officer if they have evidence to proceed which he will say he doesn't. there is little chance he wrote the required evidence and assumes the prosecutor wil give you a lesser fine.

Informative reply!. Thanks 'r33_gtst'

Decibel test can be done at..?

[r33_gtst]

Different exhaust shops offer it, you are prob best to google it or shop around
"the noise my car makes is necessary. I do not drive a Prius"

[Murchie]

Different exhaust shops offer it, you are prob best to google it or shop around
"the noise my car makes is necessary. I do not drive a Prius"

ahh okayy..

[Terrh]

Your exhaust is illegal because the officer said it was.

Sorry, but that's how the law is written in ontario.

You could have had an OEM exhaust on the car and still lose in court.

I'd fight it anyways and hope the judge is a decent, reasonable person. The fact that you had a conversation with them with your car running must mean it's not that loud.

I made a thread in "legalease" a while back detailing most of the laws.

[r33_gtst]

^not true, and that is not how the law is written
I see what your gettin at but not quite. Nothing to do with your exhaust being illegal because he said so. Him getting a ticket because they determined the noise unnecessary, yes, but that's up to the officer to articulate.

[Michael1992]

Murchie dude, I went through this problem 2 times where I'm from. I first was running a straight pipe( i understand) so then I put another exhaust on and got hastled again. so I put a silencer in and went to the police station and had the chief of police listen to the car and sign and date my ticket. Also printed a picture of my exhaust and had him sign and date it. I've been pulled over 4 times since and they have let me go everytime because I have those 2 pieces of documents.

I'd just take it to court and fight it

[Daryl @ RightDrive]

The iphone has an app that measures decibels. Probably not as accurate as a professional unit, but still something that you can use without spending any money. If I were you I'd take a reading of your car at idle, and at 3000rpm. Then try some other cars with stock exhausts that are loud, such as a G37S, Corvette, Ferrari etc. and try to find one that is the same or louder than yours. Then you can easily show that your exhaust is not louder than stock exhausts of other cars on the road. The trick is finding something stock that is loud.

[RixR32]

The trick is finding something stock that is loud.

A Harley? They drive on the same roads....:-)

[Murchie]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I have a silencer that i'll be fitting soon. I drove around and spoke to quite a few exhaust shops/mechanics and all of them said, they don't have the equipment to measure exhaust decibels or these no such thing (either they never used one or a random comment from people who don't know the law concerning excessive noise testing..idk).

I also spoke to a paralegal who advised me to get my exhaust checked out by a certified mechanic and have them provide a receipt to take to court.

Hmm, do you guys think its worth me filing an official complaint with OIPRD (Office Of The Interdependent Police Review Director). Has anyone gone through the process?

[cschepp]

If your looking to get a decibel level easy way is to go to a serious stereo place. Alot of them enter sound competitions and try and break records.

Do you run a straight through exhaust? If not the rsr from what I remember really isn't bad at all! There are many different vehicles out there that are alot louder than that stock.

Motorcycles and antique cars will fall into different classes with this and have different regulations(I think) decibel level reading would be great at a high, mid and low rpm range so it gives you a good chance of getting the ticket dropped.