VIRGINIA, USA — It can be an upsetting experience when you're sitting outside a restaurant, enjoying your food, and someone in a vehicle stops right next to you, with a blaring exhaust so loud it's impossible to hear the person inches away from you.
This is of the reasons why Virginia passed the excessive noise law, which goes into effect on Friday, July 1, 2022.
The law says law-enforcement officers can stop a vehicle and write a citation if the noise level can be heard 50 feet from the vehicle.
The purpose of a new law is to prevent excessive and or unusual levels noise.
The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) police has been alerting drivers about the change to the law.
FCPD reports Virginia state law requires drivers to operate their vehicle with an exhaust system in good working order and in constant operation to prevent unusual or excessive noise levels.
The department states on their website, "Loud cars have created a quality-of-life issue for many community members and have been identified as a public nuisance. Officers will rely on their training and experience to determine if a vehicle's exhaust system fails to prevent such excessive noise when compared to a standard factory design on such vehicle."
For additional information about the law, click here.
