Police are cracking down on motor vehicles producing excessive noise.

So summer has faded away and with it, the sounds of the seasons. All but the most serious bikers have put their motorcycles up for the winter. People are driving with their windows closed, shutting out the clamor of car stereos.

It may seem more quiet when the air gets cool but it was not a silent summer.

Backed by new laws dealing with excessive noise, police in the Twin Cities handed out plenty of summonses since the start of the year.

It was a crackdown on what one police lieutenant described as a “quality of life issue.” Residents were tired of being awakened or otherwise bothered by loud exhaust systems, screeching tires and car stereos that rattle windows and nerves.

“This has always been a problem. It’s something that generates a huge volume of calls for us,” said Lewiston police Lt. Tom Avery. “When people are at home, they want to enjoy themselves. They want to sleep or relax.”

Between the beginning of the year and the start of October, police in Lewiston had handed out 22 summonses for excessive exhaust noise, 15 for unnecessary tire noise and two for excessive noise from car stereos.

In Auburn, police handed out a combined total of 17 summons for tire or exhaust noise in the same period but they cracked down particularly heavy on thumping car stereos: since the start of the year 19 people were summoned for that offense.

“We’ve had an increase in complaints about those loud stereos,” said Auburn police Sgt. Richard Coron. He described the problem as a safety issue as well as a nuisance.

“These people are driving with the volume jacked up. If an emergency vehicle gets behind them, they have no idea until we’re right up on their butts,” Coron said. “They have no idea unless they happen to glance up in the rearview mirror or somebody points us out.”

In September, Auburn passed a law allowing police to summon someone for vehicle noise – regardless of the form – if it causes distractions to other drivers, unreasonably disturbs a neighborhood, threatens or intimidates pedestrians or undermines the health, welfare and safety of residents.

The new ordinance is similar to that used by Lewiston police. A person can now be summoned in Auburn if they crank up a car stereo enough to be audible at greater than 25 feet away or if it exceeds 85 decibels.

The new law also defines excessive car stereo noise as that which causes windows in buildings to be shaken or rattled by the clamor.

It’s not just the cops who are focusing on loud drivers and other noise makers. Earlier in the year, the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council wrapped up a months-long project where elementary school age kids and their parents addressed the problem of noise pollution.

The group made posters and took surveys on the issue, posting results to a Web site. They also filmed a 9-minute video on the topic, featuring people who feel bombarded by noise.

Lou and Claudette Vaillancourt, two stars in the video, live on Sabattus Street across from Val’s Rootbeer. They hear bikes, cars and traffic all the time.

“In the summer, I mean it’s crazy, they peel in and out,” said Lou.

“When they go by with the loud speakers in their car, I’m not kidding, the whole place vibrates,” added Claudette.

While police compiled the numbers of summonses handed out over the course of the year, officials tend to agree those numbers are not very revealing.

In some situations where a person is making too much noise, he or she might have been arrested or summoned for something other than the offenses listed above. The offender could have been arrested for disorderly conduct or another charge rather than summoned for a noise offense, police said. Or he or she may have been summoned for driving an unsafe vehicle or something not directly linked to the noise that generated the original complaint.

“The numbers can be deceptive,” Avery said.

The summonses handed out for exhaust noise in both cities almost exclusively involved motorcycles with loud muffler systems, police said. Riders who like their bikes really loud can lose the muffler altogether and go with straight pipes, which have no straight baffles to dampen the horsepower.

The sergeant said for the most part, the motorcycle rider is in control of how much noise he is making. Coast through town and the exhaust sound won’t be that great. Rev the engine suddenly, though, and the result is a ferocious growl.

“You can really make those things bark,” said Coron, who drives a Harley-Davidson.

Most riders try to control the sound of their bikes when they are driving through populated areas, Coron said. Or they knock off the racket after one warning from a cop.

But “There are still a few out there who just don’t get the message,” Coron said.

Although police in both cities say they will continue cracking down on motorists and others who create excessive noise, Avery predicts it will always be a problem. Responding to noise complaints is not always the highest priority for officers who may be dealing with more serious matters while out on patrol.

“There are people who don’t think we’re doing enough,” he said.

Complaints of noise tend to drop in the cooler months, Avery said. Motorcycles are put away and windows are down instead of up in houses and cars. People hear less of what calamity there is around them.

When spring rolls around again though, Avery expects another dramatic rise in the number of noise complaints he receives. And he doesn’t blame people for complaining.

“It’s a quality of life issue,” he said. “People just want things relatively quiet. They want things peaceful.”

mlaflamme@sunjournal.com


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