Auburn cites bikers for loud exhausts

OFF THE WIRE
By Mark LaFlamme, Staff Writer

Since a revised law targeting loud motorcycles went into effect in July, Auburn police have been among the most zealous in enforcing it.

The department has cited eight people on charges of driving with excessively loud exhaust and another 28 have been warned.

The numbers are in keeping with Auburn police Chief Phil Crowell’s promise that his department would step up its efforts to crack down on loud vehicles. In advance of the law changes, Crowell had been working directly with Maine State Police Lt. Brian Scott, who heads up the effort.

In addition, Auburn’s Deputy Chief Jason Moen sits on a board with Scott and others who are studying the problem of loud exhaust systems.

The new law has been vigorously debated among groups on either side of the issue. Biker groups say the law unfairly targets a lifestyle. They say loud pipes make people notice them, which increases their safety.

Opponents heartily disagree. They insist bikers have been getting away with obscenely loud exhaust pipes for years and that law changes were necessary to help combat rampant noise pollution. But whether the revised law, which states that all vehicles must be equipped with mufflers and those mufflers cannot be modified to make them louder, will really cut down on road noise remains to be seen.

Most feel it depends on enforcement.

In Lewiston, 32 motorists have been either warned or cited since the new law went into effect. However, it was not clear how many of those were bikers and how many were summoned.

In Androscoggin County, deputies had stopped and warned roughly a half dozen bikers and warned them about their exhaust pipes.

The fine for violations is $137. But according to Scott, the state police lieutenant, most tickets handed out under the new law have not yet been resolved in court.

With that in mind, it’s hard to tell how effective the new law is going to be in targeting the issue of road noise.

“It’s still a little too early to tell,” Scott said.