(a) (1) Every motor vehicle and motorcycle with an internal combustion engine shall at all times be equipped with a muffler which is in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and no person shall use a muffler cutout, bypass or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a highway. Every motorcycle muffler shall be equipped with baffle plates.
(2) No person shall own, operate or have in the person's possession any motor vehicle or motorcycle equipped with a device for producing excessive smoke or gas, or so equipped as to permit oil or any other chemical to flow into or upon the exhaust pipe or muffler of such vehicle, or equipped in any way to produce or emit smoke or dangerous or annoying gases from any portion of such vehicle, other than the ordinary gases emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine under normal operation.
(3) No person, while operating a motor vehicle within the City, shall engine brake or otherwise use the vehicle's engine to decelerate the vehicle in a manner that causes extraordinary, unreasonable or excessive noise from the vehicle's engine and/or exhaust system.
(4) Any law enforcement officer that perceives or detects a sound or sounds that may be a violation of this section shall be entitled to measure the sound according to the following standards:
A. The primary means of perception and/or detection shall be by means of the officer's ordinary auditory sensory perception, provided the officer's auditory sensory perception is not enhanced by any mechanical or electronic device, including but not limited to a microphone or hearing aid.
B. The officer must have a direct line of sight and hearing to the motor vehicle producing the sound so that the officer is able to readily identify the offending motor vehicle.
(5) This section does not apply to emergency vehicles or public safety vehicles.
(b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(Ord. 142-11. Passed 6-16-11; Ord. 158-17. Passed 9-21-17.)
Statutory reference:
State regulations of mufflers, see Ohio R.C. 4513.22