It will soon be an offence to alter a vehicle’s exhaust system in a way that increases the noise it makes.
In a change to what was originally proposed, the States have agreed that the prosecution will only need to prove an increase in noise due to the alteration, rather than just that the noise is “excessive.”
The committees for Home Affairs and the Environment & Infrastructure now have to work up those new laws – including looking at introducing decibel limits, and other potential measures, to try and tackle noisy vehicles.
The States also used their last meeting of this government to commit resources and effort towards investigating the feasibility and practicalities of using agreed decibel limits in the future.
E&I is now allowed to look at bringing in new regulations that would create a criminal offence if someone were to drive a vehicle that exceeded specified decibel limits, which would be measured by a stationary test.
These new regulations will cover the decibel limits themselves, the vehicles they apply to, the testing methods, and any potential police powers needed for law enforcement.
These decisions were made at the tail end of the States’ last meeting for this term of office.
What was originally proposed was amended with new suggestions from Deputies Adrian Gabriel and Mark Helyar who wanted the States to skip an initial data trial stage and move straight in to creating a legal framework based on measurable noise levels.
They said this would provide clear parameters and immediately enforceable noise standards.
The pair lodged their amendment after gauging public feedback including responses to a public petition, which you can read about HERE.
That amendment was successful with 37 in favour, one vote against, and two ‘ne vote pas’.