exhaust noise tickets
 

My girl's car got a fix it ticket recently and we're fairly sure the exhaust is within legal limits (below 95db) and understand we'll have to now prove it (guilty until proven innocent is the new rule of the land, which the innocent have to pay to do).

I'm a bit confused though, because if we prove that the exhaust is legal (we didn't change or fix anything), we still seem to be on the hook for paying for the test (over a hundred bucks at a state referee i think) and whatever court fees are associated with the dismissal. The state pays for nothing despite her car not being non-compliant.

How is that right? Shouldn't she get reimbursed by the state for the test if the entire thing was the cop's error? How is this not just an obvious shakedown method for cops to profile and harass certain demographics?

Just curious, what exhaust is on the car? Is it the OEM NPP system or aftermarket?

She has a borla S type axle back (no alteration to cats or engine etc). We're gonna do a quick self test with a good decibel meter and see what it's putting out later today ...using whatever test methodology we can look up that the state ref will use before taking it.. if it fails our test, then we'll obviously throw the stock system back on and get certed and at that point, the argument above is moot becaues we had to fix something.

But if it passes our test, we'll assume it will pass the ref and then we're back to the question at hand. If you get a fix it ticket, but dont have to fix anything... why are you on the hook to prove your innocense at your expense? That's not usually how the law works when you're innocent. The prosecution pays. But i dont see any kind of documentation anywhere that explains what happens if a fix it ticket was issued in error.

When the AFM valves close my S type gets pretty quiet at idle.

If it's issued in error you go on with your life and the judge writes the ticket off.

well, obviously it gets dismissed, but you still have to pay over a hundred bucks to get certified ...which was the point of the post.

If the state doesn't reimburse you for the ref test, then what's to stop cops from profiling every car they want and forcing you to go pay to prove your innocence? The honor system?

What part of CA or what City did she get the ticket in? Just want to know where I’ve got to be in stealth mode. Thanks!

The cops lose authenticity with the judge and that dosnt go over well. Usually it'll happen one time here or there, cop gets corrected. It's in the police interest to write tickets that would be proveable so this sounds like either a mistake on the cops part, or the exhaust is infact above state level.

Did you look up the law? Did the cops use DB meter or is this a cops word or opinion? In NY the testing method is very specific and the fix it part is either a shop signing off or actually going to the cop shop and have them test it.
If it’s legal a test should be easy and cheap, free if the cops do it.

In front a judge you could probably even question the validity of the meter used because that would need a calibration certificate to be a valid measurement.

CA exhaust law just recently got modified, but basically the cop can site you without db meter and it is on their discretion. Take the ticket to state ref, the test it with the DB meter at certain distance etc.

Irvine. No dB meter was used. We've lived here for over 5 years and have had this particular exhaust setup for 3 of them. Guy followed her out of a parking lot so he was going to pull her over just from startup ...she is super non-aggressive driving but the borla S is a deep sounding exhaust. It's hardly the loudest cars around here get, there's tons of jaguars and bmw's and even other exotics that are much louder than either of our cars.

Pretty sure she was profiled for the car. I guess we'll see once we measure for ourselves.

Sorry to hear that. My car screams pull me over...hopefully I’ll stay lucky.

CA uses SAE J1492 standard for testing exhaust.

Goodluck!

So we found test procedures that weren't behind a paywall

18 inches away and 45 degrees off center of the pipe in an open area with mic facing directly towards the exhaust opening. at idle and then slowly up 4000rpm and then let go.

We did that to both of our cars and they both failed horribly. Like 110dB for the borla S type and about the same for my MRT V2.

So i guess it's swap back to stock time.