Though sometimes this double-responsibility just means finger-pointing instead of action.
I mean yeah if they never get complains about a given area and they get one call about a loud car driving they're not going to come in lights and sirens to search for them. But if they consistently get complaints it will absolutely guide their decision-making around where to patrol, how often, etc.
Of course this assumes that the political leadership in your municipality hasn't decided that cops don't need to enforce laws (rare outside of a few large cities) and they're not busier with much more serious crimes, underfunded and understaffed, and just not able to spend time on noise complaints (rare but a common talking point).
Management (the courts) do not find it lucrative enough (political capital) to pursue weak cases (lax laws passed by the legislative branch).
In order to fix you must bring awareness in your local community to the problem (lax laws) and petition change (raise political capital). The courts and byproxy, enforcement, will follow. The larger the city, the more difficult this becomes.
Cops don’t ticket cars because they also own a car
Cops don’t stop people with guns because they also own guns
Cops don’t go after bikers because they factor in if the offense is worth the risk, to both themselves and the public. There’s also a whole thing with outlaw motorcycle gangs that plays into it. Most non entry level bikes can out maneuver and outrun cop cars with ease, yes, even those slow looking Harley’s. Starting a chase over loud pipes would put a lot of innocent people at risk and for what? It isn’t worth it and it’s safe to say if the biker is running modified pipes they are not on an entry level bike.
Story: a buddy of mine had a gsxr 1000 and would purposely screw with cops on the freeway and as soon as they’d light up he’d be gone and doing 200mph within a few seconds, fitting between cars easily. Within 30-60 seconds a bike can be damn near a mile away from a cop car. Radioing ahead won’t help if you don’t know where they went and they were never running a plate to run… most cops know it’s pointless to chase and often immediately call it off. Public safety is more important. Those types of bikers have a way of making the issue go away all on their own eventually. You can’t temp fate that much and not eventually meet yours.
>> Story: a buddy of mine had a gsxr 1000 and would purposely screw with cops on the freeway and as soon as they’d light up he’d be gone and doing 200mph within a few seconds, fitting between cars easily. Within 30-60 seconds a bike can be damn near a mile away from a cop car. Radioing ahead won’t help if you don’t know where they went and they were never running a plate to run… most cops know it’s pointless to chase and often immediately call it off.
It's still kind of amazing to me that race-tuned liter bikes are even legal in the US. Even a starter 250 likely has a faster 0-60 than most cars on the road. I believe you need a little extra power to spare when riding, so that you can suddenly speed up if you need to, but not so much extra power that a quarter-turn on the throttle gets you from 70 to 100 MPH in 1 second.
I've heard big bikes described as "ride to survive" because even a small mistake can be fatal when you are dealing with that much performance. Full disclosure, I ride a big, fat Kawasaki touring bike (1993 ZG1200, right about 760 pounds wet) and while the engine is big, it's geared to a max of 113 MPH. It's big enough I have to respect it when riding, but powerful enough that if I need to I can spur it a bit :)
Interestingly enough I passed a cop on the highway doing 150 once. He was merging on from the on ramp. I stayed in it thinking I was fucked anyway but to my surprise he took the very next exit and got right back off the highway. There’s no way he didn’t notice me blow past him. The only thing I can think of is he got a priority call or he saw my speed and said fuck this my shift is about over and noped on out of running me down.
An idiot friend used to do similar (in the UK), then one day he did it and the Police turned up at his house 1 minute after he had stopped and put his bike away. He'd gotten away with it loads of times but this time he did it with a Police helicopter in the air less than a mile away and easily able to track a bike all the way back to his house. A top sports bike may be able to do 200mph but not everywhere, and helicopters are fast, can see for miles with very good tracking cameras, and can fly in straight lines.
They then used all of the footage from the Police cars of previous incidents to tie them all to him (similar clothing, similar bespoke exhaust, etc). I think he got 8 years in prison with all of the totting up that went on (and previous offences taken into account).
A video that opens from a news helicopter and a reporter stating "we've been tracking him for ten minutes" that continues to track for another 3 or four minutes.
The police helicopter pulls off towards the end for lack of fuel .. and the news helicopter says that they are having trouble keeping up (despite having done so for at least 13 minutes).
I'm going to guess this is more a resources ran out thing than a car outran helicopter thing.
( FWiW "The speed of a police helicopter can vary depending on the make and model. However, most police helicopters have a top speed of around 130-145 miles per hour (209-233 kilometers per hour)."
The car was peaking at 110 mph, the helicopters may have been hitting headwinds, even so the statement was explicit that police helicopter had low fuel. )
The police rig was probably easily keeping up - but was low on fuel, the news helicopter likely had less grunt and|or started to exceed budget burn rate | run low on fuel itself.
The follow through on that wasn't given but there's a fair chance the car was tracked down - being distinctive and the police capturing the plates.
3:20ish "We're having trouble keeping up with this guy"
3:30 "We are currently going 120MPG and he is losing us. We're at the maximum speed right now." [news anchor after speaking to pilot]
3:50 "This is the first time the vehicle has outrun the chopper" [studio host?]
So I think you are correct in the 130-145 MPH max speed and them just hitting 120 due to wind or hardware.
> Before the American city could be physically reconstructed to accommodate automobiles, its streets had to be socially reconstructed as places where cars belong [..] Until then, streets were regarded as public spaces, where practices that endangered or obstructed others (including pedestrians) were disreputable. Motorists’ claim to street space was therefore fragile, subject to restrictions that threatened to negate the advantages of car ownership.
Or maybe they're just assholes.
I got pulled over for noise (in the UK) as my ZX6-R had a hole in the downpipes and it was obviously a bit too noisy. I was trying my best to keep the noise down and (genuinely, provably) on my way to drop the bike off to have it repaired.
The Cop that pulled me over was happy to chat about it when I explained that it was on its way to get fixed he let me off.
Then a Harley that was twice as loud went past and the cop says "Cor, doesn't that sound lovely!" I asked him if he was going to pull it over for being louder than mine and he suddenly got very grumpy with me again. I didn't push any further as I didn't want to end up with a fine.
What's the old line?
"Harley's are probably the most efficient machine to turn gasoline into noise without that pesky by-product of horsepower."
But I did talk to them. Turns out he lives with his mom, and she just bitched me out.
To be fair (to those who think that's excessive), they also (on two occasions) chased down and cited/arrested people who tried to run me off the road on my bicycle there (commuted via bicycle for years), and I've had many other great interactions with them.
And teslas but only when they drive behind. For whatever reason tesla lights blind when seen in the mirror.
They are also good for deflecting debris :)
The best thing ever!
Can't tell you the amount of times I've seen people in the other lane flash their highbeams at him while I've been riding in the passenger seat, because they think he's doing the same.
That gives max range for high beams and the low beam down and right (for right drive countries) is then also very close to optimal.
I'd personally rather have a fast, but quiet vehicle. Most vehicles people make loud don't really have enough displacement to warrant that much sound so it's usually loud AND slow lol
This kind of thing for people who were wondering
What's crazy to me is I hear it on cars that aren't even turbo - they're just running super rich with no muffler/resonator, so it pops/burbles more than normal. Can't be good for the car (the catalyst in particular, assuming they've bothered to keep it).
There's also "DSG farts" which actually have a performance benefit, but sound truly awful with aftermarket exhaust systems.
1) Look up your city ordinances on sound, there should be copies of this is the reference section of your city's public library. Identify the ordinance and paragraph that the people nearby are violating. Record/video one or more violations on your phone.
2) Call the police, don't "complain about the noise", tell them you want to "swear out a complaint" for violating ordinance x, paragraph y. They are obligated to take your complaint and forward it to the District Attorney[1].
3) You will probably be called as a witness if the folks with the noisy cars choose a trial.
[1] When a police officer hears a complaint, they can "investigate", and then "cite" the offender. It is up to the officer's discretion. That citation is the sworn complaint from the officer of the offending behavior. When the police refuse to do their job, everyone has the right to "step in" to that role and swear out a complaint. The downside is that retaliating against an officer is 'scary' but retaliating against a neighbor isn't. This can result in a variety of negative externalities that may be criminal but hard to prove (car getting 'keyed', tires slashed, rocks thrown through windows, feces on your porch, Etc.)
Because taking on the job of enforcement when the cops let you down incurs significant personal risk, I usually suggest people make an appointment with their representative on the city's governing body, city manager, or district attorney and encourage them to actually do their job. Editorials in the local paper are good to, but projecting soft power as a voter in that way is less likely to blow back directly on you. I can also take longer and be less successful but sending emails to the DA with repeat infractions over and over can often convince them of the need for enforcement.
Good luck getting them to pick up. At least where I live (Seattle), I don't think its possible to get someone on the phone unless you call 911. Daytime phones automated system defers everything to online.
Where I live, these citizen comments are beloved by wingnuts who hate their neighbors and are trying to convince the city to harass them. So - you know - try not to come off as one of those.
That saves waiting for your turn at the podium in the meeting and it avoids the wingnuts labeling you as the person "out to get them." Both are good things IMHO.
I thought that being able to connect to a live human operator / police dispatcher outside of 911 was ubiquitous in America.
US is all about freedom, and concern for neighbors is a necessary prerequisite to practicing freedom.
PS: I ride a motorcycle as well, there's no problem making it reasonably quiet.
Then, review your town's ordinances and see if there's anything about passenger vehicles requiring properly maintained and baffled exhaust system.
Then, write to your city coun, mayor, and police chief (all in one email) asking why this ordinance isn't enforced? Can it be struck from the ordinances if it will never be enforced?
Finally, ask them whether or not citizens should be able to enforce the code or ordinances amid willful police negligence to do so? If not, why not? If not, csn they add "City X does not issue tickets to noisy vehicles" to their marketing material.
Ask if you have fewer rights than someone who knowingly bought or modified a vehicle to disturb tens or hundreds of people all around them at any given moment during the day without recourse?
Ask them to provide at least two good points on why a passenger vehicle should be allowed to have a noisy exhaust system.
If they can't provide a solid solution, then ask them all to step down.
(I'm on your side, btw. Not sure if that was clear from my post.)
I wish they did the same about modifications done to increase the noise.
I've got 2 people living nearby that both have straight-piped their car and I literally cover my ears when they pass by.
My Watch literally tells me that a noise peak happened when they drive by.