(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.
(ORC 4513.22)
(3) No person, while operating a motor vehicle within the village, shall apply an engine brake (a practice commonly known as “jake braking”), or otherwise use the vehicle’s engine to decelerate, in such a manner as to cause excessive, unreasonable, unusual noise.
(4) Any law enforcement personnel who hears a sound that may be a violation of this section shall be entitled to measure the sound according to the following standard:
A. The primary means of detection shall be by means of the officer’s auditory senses, so long as the officer’s hearing is not enhanced by any mechanical device such as 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 he can readily identify the offending motor vehicle and the distance involved.
(5) This section does not apply to emergency or police vehicles.
(Ord. 06-10-04. Passed 11-14-06.)
(b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 4513.22)