[Squidward]

So today I finally got a CBE after 2 years of being stock, and day 1 I get followed by a cop for a while. I wasn't pulled over or anything but it sort of ruined the fun of having the exhaust. I decided to look up what my course of action would be if i were to be pulled over, turns out you can't do ANYTHING about it. Any modification to your exhaust or mufflers is illegal, if you have any exhaust or muffler mods you only haven't gotten a ticket because the police have decided not to give you one.

Not only is it illegal under NY State traffic law to modify your exhaust or mufflers AT ALL, but it's also illegal to have bypass valves in your exhaust.

Can anyone with a legal background explain to me how manufacturers that have sport modes on their exhausts aren't all being sued?

http://codes.findlaw.com/ny/vehicle-and-traffic-law/vat-sect-375.html

 

[dappersi]

Cars don't just operates on roads, private roads, tracks, etc also exist. As a result, manufactures/sellers can sell them because they are not "intended" for road use. Also the reason they are technically illegal is to give law enforcement a legal reason to be able to mess with you should they be suspicious of something else, since they need a reason to initiate interaction with you.

EDIT: aimed at aftemarket products

 

[slee0730]

this is true for most places these days. west virginia is another. its illegal to have any modified exhaust including aftermarket systems that may even claim "50 state legal".

i was pulled over for my exhaust not too long ago and the officer explained it to me. he said in west virginia the vehicle needs a muffler and it has to be the OEM muffler or OEM equivalent, whatever that means, i have a modified inspection sticker now though so i should be ok and im not even worried about it anyways. anytime i have a police encounter they always let me go after i show them my weapons permit.

 

[colint]

From your link:

"31. Mufflers and exhaust systems.  Prevention of noise.  Every motor vehicle, operated or driven upon the highways of the state, shall at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler and exhaust system in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise and no such muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cut-out, bypass, or similar device.  No person shall modify the muffler or exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor or exhaust system of such vehicle above that emitted by the muffler or exhaust system originally installed on the vehicle and such original muffler and exhaust system shall comply with all the requirements of this section."

Says must be "adequate muffler and exhaust system," and you can't make it louder than stock. Now how is a cop going to write that ticket not knowing what decibel level the stock Honda exhaust emits? He likely isn't going to write one.

I don't know how car mfgrs get away with servo-op cutouts.

 

[Squidward]

From your link:

"31. Mufflers and exhaust systems.  Prevention of noise.  Every motor vehicle, operated or driven upon the highways of the state, shall at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler and exhaust system in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise and no such muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cut-out, bypass, or similar device.  No person shall modify the muffler or exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor or exhaust system of such vehicle above that emitted by the muffler or exhaust system originally installed on the vehicle and such original muffler and exhaust system shall comply with all the requirements of this section."

Says must be "adequate muffler and exhaust system," and you can't make it louder than stock. Now how is a cop going to write that ticket not knowing what decibel level the stock Honda exhaust emits? He likely isn't going to write one.

I don't know how car mfgrs get away with servo-op cutouts.

exactly, this is what i've read is the best defense for this sort of thing; ask them if they can tell you the decibel level of stock and how that compares to the current one.

But the point about the exhaust valves is exactly what i'm wondering. My dad's cayman comes stock with an illegal exhaust, and so does the cayenne loaner he gets during services. Porsche, Dodge, Ford, GM, Aston Martin, Ferrari / Every company that has made a sports car in the last 2 years has broken the law according to this, why aren't they being sued?

Like Dapper said, im sure this is just a tool for the police to "legally" infringe on the rights of stoners and hoodrats. But the selective enforcement of this is really infuriating. Car enthusiasts need our own political action group.

 

[scottyrocks]

There's been a big to-do going on for years about this in the motorcycling community. The short of it is that there is no way that a P.O., using a sound meter, can reliably duplicate the testing conditions on an exhaust system for noise. There are too many other variables that come into play, mainly the testing environment of the street, which is not the lab where the actual testing (for db) is done.

The trick is to not have a 'too loud' exhaust, whatever that is, to avoid getting stopped in the first place.

 

[slee0730]

There's been a big to-do going on for years about this in the motorcycling community. The short of it is that there is no way that a P.O., using a sound meter, can reliably duplicate the testing conditions on an exhaust system for noise. There are too many other variables that come into play, mainly the testing environment of the street, which is not the lab where the actual testing (for db) is done.

The trick is to not have a 'too loud' exhaust, whatever that is, to avoid getting stopped in the first place.

this is pretty much what the police told me but pretty much ANY after market exhaust designed for performance application will be "too loud" i think.

at least here in WV where ANY aftermarket exhaust is illegal, even with my catted full race downpipe and cbe i got pulled over for being too loud.

oddly enough... catless buddyclub and nvidia n1 i never got stopped haha. i NEVER drove my car past midnight though out of courtesy lol. it was 2am when i got pulled with the full race stuff.

most cops dont want to bother with something as trivial as an exhaust these days so unless youre being a jackass youll probably be OK and when a cop does stop you think before you challenge it. the officer cant test your car there but maybe he could impound it and test it somewhere else- highly unlikely but stranger things have happened...

at the end of the day its just an exhaust system. how long will it take you to crawl under and swap it? an hour at most. take the repair order, swap it, get it signed off at the sheriff (or where ever you do that in your state) and swapit back. problem solved lol.

 

[scottyrocks]

It's also where you live.

POs in areas with dense(r) populations usually can't be bothered to write muffler tickets, unless a large number of loud vehicles gather in a particular spot week after week and do stupid things. Prompted by calls from the locals, then they come down like hammers and write a lot tickets for the noise, burn-outs, racing up and down the main drag, etc.