Council in North Bay is joining a call for the province to set a maximum decibel count for exhaust systems in Ontario.
A motion brought forward by Councillor Chris Mayne supports a motion in the Town of Ajax.
“If it does go to the province, the hope is that they would entertain the appropriate changes to the Highway Traffic Act. If approved it would give us one more tool toward addressing high decibel noise in residential neighbourhoods,” he says.
Councillor Bill Vrebosch says loud mufflers are an issue every weekend in the summer.
“Lakeshore Drive is, I guess, one of their raceways up to the Omischl (Sports Complex) area,” he says. “It just goes on constantly from Friday night to Sunday night and it’s probably one of the biggest complaints I’ve received is these small cars with the mufflers on them that belong on five-tonne trucks.”
The motion calls on the Ministry of Transportation to set a maximum decibel count for exhaust systems “to ensure that exhaust systems with the capability of exceeding 80 decibels will not be available for sale and will not be permitted in the Province of Ontario, and consider reviewing and increasing associated penalties for non-compliance.”
The motion also seeks funding for police services to be equipped with approved decibel monitoring devices for enforcement.
