bloody police

[gl3nn]

Hi all, just wondering if you can help me

I have recently found out a neighbour of mine is a copper as he came out of house 1day to let me know with his warrent card, my car was idling and he gave me a major bolloking about my exhaust is illegal
Now I know it is loud (mongoose) lol but he said he is going to get his mate a traffic cop to do a decibel test then they can take my R
How true is this thanks all

 

[IrishDan]

i say invite him round for tea wack him over the head with a large blunt object and stick him under the patio,

 

[IrishDan]

ps mate they cant take your R, if it comes to it ask for your db test to be done at your local mot station, and as they wont have the db limit for your car it has to be tested against something of similar, ie a 2.0L turbo int awd, ie scoob evo ect, its a greyish area as my neigbour has a tvr jesus what a racket it makes!
Worst outcome mate would be a fine and told to get it changed,
but if you dont pay i think they Might be able to take it

 

[mynheers_a_pint]

Not knowing the situation in detail, it's hard to give any solid advice. However, a Mongoose is not that loud- when i had my 'goose fitted i was able to track the car round Castle Combe which has a 100db limit. That was with a straight through front pipe, de-cat and a bung fitted in the tail pipe. It is entirely possible, depending on the situation, that living in a close or a cul-de-sac will cause a moderately loud exhaust to seem overly intrusive as the sound bounces round. There is also the possibility that departure/arrival times could be causing aggrovation for the locals- leaving early in the morning with a loud car will always rial up the locals, as will arriving home in the middle of the evening.

Of course, there is also the other possibility that the chap is well within his rights to be complaining if you sit of your drive revving the car all weekend or have numerous mates arriving with loud exhausts and making a racket. Personally, i wouldn't be treating it as an issue with the police, but rather your relationship with the neighbors. This chap might be speaknig out, where others are too polite/too afraid to do so.

It might be more suitable to simply apologies to your neighbor but expalin that the exhaust is perfectly legal- saying that an exhaust is too loud is subjective and dpendant on the person assessing the volume. Even with a decibelometer, it simply returns a value. Interpretation of that value is still completly subjective and as far as i am aware there is no defined noise limit on british roads.

 

[keastygtir]

there is now ( a law) 89 db is the limit, £30 roadside fine or court

 

[snoon]

i'd have told him to fook off. Bloody Neighbours.

As above - the DB reading will only tell him how loud it is. Ask him to find a standard one to compare it with - there aren't any.

 

[snoon]

better still, stick a bung in it when they test it!!

 

[gl3nn]

I said its a japanese car and it came over with it, to which he replied its a nissan sunny lol so he obviously doesn't know his cars, I never rev it and always leave the estate on 2nd gear idle to warm up cool down etc, I will try and get a test done but I am liking the patio idea haha, I just wanted to ensure the car cannot be taken there and then.

 

[hkspulsar]

I had this argument with a guy who had a motorbike. I used my R daily then, would start it up drive out of the street as quietly as possible to a car park just round the corner and wait for the car to warm, rather considerate I thought. then he complained about me starting at the tiem I did in the morning, 7.30.

Then every Sunday over Sunday he would get up and start his bike up at 7.30, while all his mates bike sat there ideling!! lets say a few harsh words passed between us!! Its all about he with out sin cast first the first stone!1

I see it all a bit hipocritical really as I thought to be done for non car noise related incidents the police had to have four complaints within a certain time, or if it was after 11pm and before 7am they could proecute. So why is it different for cars, a noise that last for a couple of minutes over head banging music all day that they could potentially do nothing about!!

Sorry, all the above is totally wrong, i Can tell you exactly why they do it, to get there £30 quid and to prevent them from catching real criminals!!

They can issue a section 57 or some crap, where if you get caught with it again they can impound your car!!

 

[Tim]

i'd have told him to fook off. Bloody Neighbours.

As above - the DB reading will only tell him how loud it is. Ask him to find a standard one to compare it with - there aren't any.

:wave:

 

[mynheers_a_pint]

first piece of useful info;

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31970L0157:EN:HTML

Secondly, the only info on an 86bd idle limit, is reference to a law in california where cars at idle must be less than 86db and upto 35kph 90db. There is nothing specified regarding car noise limits in the UK. However there are noise limits for Motorcycles, dependant on manufacture date-
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafet...ling/interimreportoftheadvisorygr4639?page=12

By the sounds of things, if you're concerned, give the DFT a call and ask them out right if there is a noise limit for a car. From what i have read, there isn't. At the moment...

 

[nimhbk]

if they don't get you one way they will get you another!!!!
I would be more worried about him trying to put asb order on you. And stopping you driving your car in the morning and evenings. All they need is one statement of fact, that it's causing an detramental impact on life.

 

[fubar andy]

First things first.

Find out his full name, collar number, station he works at and also his superiors details, if you wish to make a formal complaint or take this further.

Next thing is there is always two sides to a story; normally officers won’t just barge over in plain clothes, flash their warrant card around and give you a dressing down in the street for having your engine ticking over.
A possibility is that he could still be in his probation period before coming an officer and is just throwing his weight about due to his new powers?

However, regardless of the situation is unlikely that he would come over and start to shout at you for having your engine on ticking over, there has to be more to it than that?
How often do you have your engine on for? Honestly do you rev it on the drive way? Do you have other car owners at the property with their engines on?

In the past I have warmed up my car on the drive way and popped inside to get some bits, it is surprising how far sound travels from the GTiR. For other residents that are not “petrol heads” it can become very tiresome and annoying. If there are complaints from other residents about your car and its noise, then something can be done about it, if it is taken up with the police…

I also find it very unlikely that he will follow up his comments about having the traffic dept come round to your house and perform a db level check.
MOT testing says that your exhaust has to be 98db’s or under. From the factory Mongoose units are 98db’s, but over time as I found out they can get louder (Oulton Park = 110db’s). Just out of interest, where do you keep your car at night?

From what you’ve said it sounds all a bit too excessive and heavy handed; unless you’ve been a tool, revving your engine or booting it off down the street?

If I were you, keep a cool head; don’t do anything to antagonise the situation. If he comes over again, keep your cool and ask him lots of questions about why he’s talking to you, what is his out come, his reasons for targeting you and don’t forget to get all his details?
The more info you can get out of him the better, you’ll know his motives, his attitude and if you need to go further you have an understanding about the situation.
Don’t get cocky with him and if you can negotiate an out come then even better as it could put you in control and you could dominate the conversation.

 

[darkyGTI-R]

No way can they take your car mate they can get you to put the restrictive cat back on at the garage though but once it's passed just take the fooking thing off again lol

 

[mynheers_a_pint]

First things first.

Find out his full name, collar number, station he works at and also his superiors details, if you wish to make a formal complaint or take this further.

Next thing is there is always two sides to a story; normally officers won’t just barge over in plain clothes, flash their warrant card around and give you a dressing down in the street for having your engine ticking over.

I agree wholeheartedly.

I would say that 99% of the people on here have had the need to raise the RPM of their car on the drive on a number of occasions. At the time, you are usually so focussed on fixing the problem (usually the reason for upping the revs..!) you do not consider thant by revving the engine, you are generating more noise then some would consider acceptable. Arriving home with your windows down and music blasting is another thing a lot of people do without reallising.

I would at the very least try to understand where the chap is coming from. The perception that the police are a bunch of egomaniacal time wasters is usually unfounded. The whole Cruzin' culture has given the majority of traffic officers a bad name where most are generally just trying to do their job. I have never had any trouble with the police over the noise of my car. It's usually because i was being a spanner and i will freely admit that (accellerating too hard is the usual issue).

 

[MarkTurbo]

MOT testing says that your exhaust has to be 98db’s or under

Is that at a certain rpm?

If they do come round just disconnect something and say it wont start, what can they do :noidea:

 

[gtireric]

hi. my daughters boyfriend is a copper..ouch... he said all they can do is give you a ticket to get it tested and stamped by an mot garage, and if its to loud you will have to change it. hope this helps. he also said the copper was in the wrong aproaching you in the street. you can make a formal complaint if you have his name and number. but he and his mates would probably make your life hell...

 

[darkyGTI-R]

Just keep a cool head mate drive off slowly and keep the revs low in residential areas that's what I do but sometimes you do need to fix things people should appreciate this with older performance cars!

 

[fubar andy]

Is that at a certain rpm?

Yeah it is, not sure off the top of my head, probably 3/4 rev range...

he said all they can do is give you a ticket to get it tested and stamped by an mot garage, and if its to loud you will have to change it.

you can make a formal complaint if you have his name and number. but he and his mates would probably make your life hell...

Normally the ticket is a VDR (Vehicle Defect Report) and you have 14 days to have the car checked at an MOT station for the defect and if needed, rectified.

If he did make a complaint the officer (nor his colleagues) should not start to make his life more difficult, that would come under victimisation and unfortunately he (they) can’t do that. However you do have that awkwardness between both parties that won’t go away. :sad:

 

[hkspulsar]

Just keep a cool head mate drive off slowly and keep the revs low in residential areas that's what I do but sometimes you do need to fix things people should appreciate this with older performance cars!

But then on the other hand you have to appreciate that they may want peace and quiet!!
We bought these cars knowing what they are, but did anyone consult with their neighbours before hand if they minded having a 100 db droning exhaust every now and then being revved, or when your going to do any work do you ask them if they mind and delay doing the work if they object?!?i doubt it very much so the above quote is pointless!