The authorities will have to show that an exhaust on a car or motorbike has been altered to prosecute someone for a ‘noisy vehicle’, rather than having to prove that the noise is ‘excessive’, as is currently the case.
Proposals from the Home Affairs and Environment & Infrastructure committees will go before the States for approval next week.
If they are backed and the law is changed, motorists stopped for an exhaust issue must show that their exhaust system and silencer have been maintained in good working order and not been altered at any time to increase the noise.
Police would need to prove this is not the case to secure a conviction, and the offence will be circulating a vehicle after alteration.
The committees said this would address the issue of attempting to define excessive noise, but they also plan to conduct a trial to gather data on noise emissions to consider whether a solution involving decibel limits might help.
This trial will evaluate the practicality of implementing noise thresholds based on international best practices and would inform any potential future law changes.
The proposal is in line with the position in the UK and Jersey, where there have been more than 100 motorists prosecuted for the offence in the past five years.
‘There has been long-standing public concern about the excessive noise that some vehicles create, and we have been working with Home Affairs and the police to look at how we can tackle this issue in a fair and effective manner,’ said E&I president Lindsay de Sausmarez.
‘The trial outlined in the policy letter will help determine whether other measures, such as the introduction of decibel limits, are also needed, but both committees were keen that this more complex piece of work didn’t hold up the more immediate progress that can be achieved with the proposed change to our legislation around exhausts.’
The new head of law enforcement, Damian Kitchen, supports the proposals.
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