Car Exhaust Noise

[Monkey boy 1]

Just a quick update, Only a few more days until the court date. I have been sent through the Witness statement from the other PC who was at the scene when my car was noise checked. His statement has the wrong car colour and incorrect vehicle reg. Good start isn't it? Also I was sent through a bundle of photos which they took of the exhaust system.

I'm actually quite looking forward to Wednesday now. It's dragged on now since August last year, but has given me plenty of time to read through and see what mistakes they (Norfolk police) have made

Will keep you all informed of the result

Edited by Monkey boy 1 on Saturday 25th May 14:46

[Monkey boy 1]

Right, The verdict was GUILTY for having a modified exhaust system which contravenes the Road vehicles Construction & use regulations 1986. section 54 (2)
"Every exhaust system and silencer shall be maintained and efficient working order and shall not be altered so as to increase the noise made by the escape of exhaust gasses"

Which, to be honest I thought they would go for, BUT, and this is the big But, I was given a conditional discharge because the Police paperwork stated that the test was done in accordance to ISO5130 and the vehicle checked at 3/4 revs, which, by now if you have read this post from the start you will know is incorrect. They checked the car at 1500RPM too high.

The Magistrate actually knew his stuff too. The copper said the exhaust was excessively loud, The magistrate said that the pipes didn't look loud at all and were more in keeping with the looks of a Merc, Jaguar or BMW system.
The Magistrate also picked fault with the copper saying the car was Green, Magistrate said that the car is no way green, more Blue, He also picke up that the Copper got the veh. Reg incorrect..

When asked about the ISO test the copper said that he knew the ISO spec, end the Magistrate picked up on the fact that it was tested at the wrong rev range, He also asked as to why I wasn't given a 'corrective action' form to get the exhaust checked. to which the copper said that at present an MOT does not check vehicle exhaust noise.

Copper squirmed a bit when asked about how they deduce the noise result and where the 82dB and rev limit comes from. His answer was the standard "We are trained in the use of the machine and adhere to the procedures laid down by Norfolk Chief Constable.
I said that the 82dB comes from a drive-by test which is totally different to the static test and that the ISO5130 regulation actually has no defined result to work from.

Really to sum up, I didn't have to pay a fine or court costs and the Police did not have to pay compensation or court costs.

The Magistrate was really impressed with my homework and thanked me for submitting the ISO standard and the construction and use regs, and said that because the Police did the test correctly and that my car did have a non standard exhaust system but the Police paperwork was incorrect he had to give a conditional discharge.

I also found out that if your car has no rev counter they can only test at tick-over, but there is no set legislation for that, and if your car is a JDM or import you need to produce, at the roadside the SVA / IVA certificate to show it is an import.

[Monkey boy 1]

Yea, a little, but as the car has a Powerflow exhaust system on it rather than a standard one, I suppose this is the best I could really achieve. At least I didn't have to pay anything and watching the officer squirm was good.

[Monkey boy 1]

Basically Yes, it contravenes the Construction & use regs - section 54(2)

[Monkey boy 1]

Exhaust noise ticket is a non-endorsable £30 FPN. They can't issue a vehicle rectification notice because it is not an MOT failure as sound levels are not a requirement for an MOT.

To me this is just one of the many new laws & regs that the beaurocrats have brought out without thoroughly checking over it to see if it actually legal to administer it.

[Monkey boy 1]

Retroman said:

The fine wording of the law says it's illegal to modify an exhaust system for it to make more noise, but one could perhaps argue that doesn't include removing the exhaust system and replacing with a full aftermarket system. That way the system hasn't been "modified" to create more noise, but has been replaced with an alternative which creates more noise as standard.

I'm not sure why the comments about the noise not being part of the MOT test either. It's an MOT fail if the noise produced by the exhaust is louder than what would be expected from a standard exhaust system in good working condition. It's been that way for years, but not all inspectors adhere to it

Because the noise check is subjective at present, there are no requirements to use any measuring devices to measure noise at an MOT so it's down the the descression of the tester.

Also if you have replaced the exhaust system with a full aftermarket one you 'have' modified it from the original

[Monkey boy 1]

Just a thought someone has said to me, As I was found guilty in a court of Law for having a modified exhaust, even though it was given a Conditional Discharge, will this have to be declared to my insurance company as a conviction ?

[Monkey boy 1]

God I feel a plonker. After contacting the court today asking what conditions were laid down I was told it was an Absolute discharge. Which makes me feel a lot better.

[Monkey boy 1]

petergukM500 said:

Still recorded as a criminal offence:

[Monkey boy 1]

Exhaust was declared as a mod with my insurance company and was OK'd by them

Edited by Monkey boy 1 on Monday 3rd June 08:38

[Monkey boy 1]

A bit more news on the verdict. Just been back to the court to ask them what the Absolute Discharge actually means. Their answer was ' No further action taken, no criminal record as there was no case to answer' I also asked if it would affect my insurance and they said that is wouldn't as there was no proper case to answer. The Monkey Boy is free.

[Monkey boy 1]

All I am saying is what the court clerk told me when i went up there to querie what the verdict meant as I had no had a reply from emails I had sent to the CPS. Yes I had a modified exhaust but because of the failings of the Police procedures then there was no case to answer.

[Monkey boy 1]

Wow, Holy Thread revival.

The problem the Police have is not understanding the Construction & Use regulations.
The 80dB limit (I thought it was 82, but who knows), anyway the 80 something test is actually a 30mph drive by test with the microphones set 9m from the track centre line and Doplar radar thrown in to the equation.
The ISO5130 test which most Police use is a static procedure which doesn't actually have a resultant value for the test.
99dB is acceptable for an SVA vehicle. and is used for the base test for many track circuits tests.
When I went to court over a noisy exhaust (92dB I think it was) the Police tested it at the wrong RPM. If the car did not have a working rev counter then they check the car at tickover. Mine was 74dB.
If in doubt really question the Police on how they test the vehicle, where they test it and at what RPM.
Obviously if you are driving like a total plonker then you will no doubt get pulled.