sirminder

I got hit with a ticket yesterday for no front plate and a modified exhaust. Orginally the LAPD officer was pulling me over for no plate, but when he followed me for one block he noticed my "loud" exhaust. I have a apexi ws with a cat but no resonator. Anway, those of you who know about the loudness of the apexi ws, know that is has a low to mid sound level compared to most. I tried reasoning with the officer about the exhaust being legal cuz it wasnt loud enough. He said "No, any modified exhaust is illigal". At that moment i remembered reading about that bill Gov. Gray Davis signed, but i just did not want to argue with the cop. I went home pissed off and confused about the whole thing.

Came here to HT and found a couple of links that helped me understand, but the more i read the more i got confused.
I began to read CHP Information Bulletin 98-100 and found that it is not really a legal document to go by. As I was talking to an CHP officer over the phone, he said that he had not heard of such "flyer or pamplet". So i read to him a few things that were mentioned on the bulletin. He, just like the LAPD cop, stood by the ground that "Any modified exhaust is illigal" and it shouldnt matter how loud it is. Also, he mentioned since I was given a ticket by the LAPD, the CHP had nothing to do with it. We talked about a few other non-related things and ended our conversation.

CHP Information Bulletin 98-100 http://www.enjoythedrive.com/content/?id=8133 is not a legal document to go by. It is just a summary of the new Senate Bill No. 1081 that went into law.
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/01-....html That Senate Bill indicates some changes made to California Vehicle codes 27150 & 27151 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-...27159 The CHP bulletin seems like it is aimed to CHP personnel and "Allied Agencies". In it, it says..."Enforcement using Section 27150 or 27151 VC is usually more approriate and effective". 27151 is what i was cited for, and seems like this is the law enforcements, way around the whole thing. 27151 = "No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase noise...".

I'm a bit confused and upset. I want to fight this ticket but i need some help to fully understand this issue.

sirminder

^^

ThisLittleSleepeR

only if the cop doesnt show up
cop= 1
me=1
we are tied right now, but i just bought a carsound cat and painted my exhaust black. should be okay now.
cops

lsvtec101

iTrader: (1)

ive gotten one before here in rhode island there called 5 day tags.. you have 5 days to fix it and take it to a station to get the ticket stamped.. i got one for my exhaust also a tanabe super racing medalion with no cat... i have a factory axle back off a ex which it bolted to my tanabe mid pipe took it to the inspection station and stamped. went home about 5mins latter my exhaust was back to new :D

psi420

You should have asked the cop to SHOW you the law book.

In there it will show you the REST of the law which says it is illegal to modify to amplify noise.
Then it will direct you to a different section where it shows those noise limits, then it will direct you to a different section which will show you how to measure the noise.

Simply modifying the exhaust is NOT illegal.
What if you get a hole in your muffler, and the muffler shops replaces your muffler.....your modified right? and its illegal right?

Cops are just dumb law enforcement drones.
Plea not guilty, argue with the judge, and hope the cop doesnt show up.

Either way, your assed out IMO.

Turbo Powa

Here in NY, I got two already. I won both. The first one I just brought in the silencer and the judge dismissed with the quickness. The second one I got was dismissed right away and I didnt even need to go to court. Because it was for the same violation they dismissed it and I didnt have to go to court.

sirminder

Seems to me that prior to this bill being passed, the law enforcement would give tickets for violating VC 23130. But that VC seemed to have a loophole, so they repealed that VC and adviced to enforce VC 27151 instead. And to me that means.... "so since we cant screw 'em for that, lets screw 'em for this!!"

Still, I would like to know of any of you that have been given a ticket for VC 27151 and what was your out come.

....a loud exhaust ticket for an Apexi WS give me a break......

orange.honda

well as my experiences go i have gotten 3 such modified exhaust tickets for local pd and chp. i did not get them signed off nor did i do anything to fight them, i simply did not pay them and now my license is suspended. but that is just bc i am stupid and let things go too far before i do anything about them. but i have a cop friend and he tells me that no matter what mod it is exhaust to lights to intake they can ticket you regardless of any carb sticker you may have. now if you have the carb legal stuff then they just let the courts straiten it up. but i find that the best way to deal with the situation is to let the cop own you from behind for a bit and get his jollies (sure the old lady getting carjacked could have used some help, but my loud exhaust was more of a nuisance) then take it off and get it signed and start the vicious cycle again.

ophdehEEzY

what city did u get pulled over in? and did the cop look under the car?

sirminder

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ophdeheezy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what city did u get pulled over in? and did the cop look under the car?</TD></TR></TABLE>

City of L.A. Soto & Michigan. And no, the cop did not look under neath the car.

sirminder

And what makes Greddy so diff from all the others to be the only "50 state legal"?

mph6563

My reading of S 27151 is that the modification is only illegal if it results in a violation of S 27150, which requires that "Every motor vehicle subject to registration shall at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise, and no muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device." Thus, if your exhaust noise is not "excessive or unusual," there is no violation of either section. But I'm not a lawyer, and I don't know what "excessive or unusual" will mean to the court anyway, so if you want good advice, hire a lawyer.

HRTuning

That's exactly right... And if you do fight it, the cop does show up, and the judge wants your side of the story... Just simply state that the cop did not use a decibel meter to adequately check if the exhaust was excessively loud or not... Unfortunately California has passed a lot of laws recently about modifications of this type... So it's basically up to what mood the judge is in at that point... You more than likely won't win... California's laws suck... That's why I moved... =P But it's worth a shot if you have a chance of winning...

Good luck man...
James

sirminder

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mph6563 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My reading of S 27151 is that the modification is only illegal if it results in a violation of S 27150, which requires that "Every motor vehicle subject to registration shall at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise, and no muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device." Thus, if your exhaust noise is not "excessive or unusual," there is no violation of either section. But I'm not a lawyer, and I don't know what "excessive or unusual" will mean to the court anyway, so if you want good advice, hire a lawyer.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup, that is exactly what i mean. I feel that the court will consider excessive or unusual anything other than stock. I just hope they dont. I email a gentleman by the name of Steven at SEMA regarding this. Currently I am waiting for his response to see where exactly I stand. Also, I went over to Radio Shack and bought a sound meter tester. Did a couple of tests' and i was surprised at the results. At 3k rpm the sound of my Apexi WS is about 86db constant. But when the accel. is released, it would peak at around 90db Ill try to do some more tests later when I get a chance.

XDEep

my thread on how i got signed off http://www.g2ic.com/forums/sho...48326

basically i went to the chp officer prepared with copies of the vc with highlighted sections even though i memorized them verbatim. the trick is you have to convince the officer that it is indeed not illegal to modify so long as you dont exceed 95db. at the moment there are no facilities that can test actual output, so you just gotta be polite and convincing. good luck

sirminder

Damn, I must admit you did get VERY lucky on that one. I just hope im as lucky as you. I got until Jun 17th to learn all these sections and codes. Crap, feels like im studying for a midterm in college again . In that case, I need a beer

sirminder

ttt

sirminder

Chuck D could not have said it better!