The District of West Vancouver has put the wheels in motion to putting an end to “unnecessarily loud” aftermarket exhaust systems, which are exacerbating traffic noise and causing residents sleepless nights.
According to councillors, loud traffic has been a mounting issue for district residents for many years, so they were happy to support a motion to send a request to the province to better regulate aftermarket exhaust systems, at the April 12 general meeting.
With the support of both West Vancouver Police Board and the British Columbia Association of Police Boards, the district will submit a resolution to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities calling for the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations to be amended to address and/or prohibit the installation of aftermarket exhaust systems, so the issue can be regulated and enforced by peace officers in B.C.
Mayor Mary-Ann Booth brought the motion to council, after hearing the concerns of a group of residents at the corner of 22nd Street and Marine Drive in the fall.
“I stood on the corner and listened to what they have to listen to daily, and it's a lot of traffic and it's a lot of noise, and it's exacerbated by aftermarket mufflers that are principally put on motorcycles,” she said.
“You can hear these motorcycles, miles away. It's just unnecessary.”
Current legislation is 'toothless'
Booth said after her conversations with residents she took the issue to West Vancouver Police Chief John Lo, who was deputy chief at the time, who drafted the motion based on his expertise and knowledge of the situation.
“He told me that the legislation that exists now in the motor vehicle act is really toothless,” she said.
“There are not clear standards, excessive noise is very subjective, and they can't enforce it. So, the existing legislation does not work.”
The motion highlighted that, although a section of the motor vehicle act regulations provides enforcement provisions specific to unnecessary noise, they do not specifically address the issue relating to the installation of aftermarket exhaust systems.
With noise pollution causing impacts to people's health and well-being, Booth said it was time “we ask the provincial government to review [legislation] and come up with the standards.”
Coun. Sharon Thompson agreed it was important to “start creating awareness and taking some action against this noise in our community.”
“This, actually, for years has been cropping up in our community, with growing angst,” she said.
Thompson pointed out that the traffic noise wasn’t only limited to people living near the highways.
“Anyone who's living in a valley gets these loud noises that funnel down,” she said. “I've heard stories for years from people who have had to stop dinner parties outside on their deck for 10 minutes while trucks and motorbikes roar by.
“The worst I think is that it wakes up people in the middle of the night.”
Coun. Craig Cameron said the loud exhausts were put on "cars or bikes for fun or for fashion" without consideration of others.
“If nobody else lived in the world, that would be fine,” he said. “The problem is they create a nuisance for other people, they impact other people, and they don't seem to care about that. Particularly in Horseshoe Bay, I’ve had a lot of residents over the years just really upset and in tears about how unnecessarily loud the traffic is that goes by."
Cameron said while nobody wants to come down on people unnecessarily, his advice to motor enthusiasts was “don't put a muffler on your bike that makes it louder to make yourself feel good, and expect to drive around a suburban area without people being upset.”
“Just don’t do it,” he said.
The resolution will be submitted to UBCM for consideration at its 2021 annual general meeting.
