Motor Vehicle Noise

Noise pollution from motor vehicles is the number one noise irritant in cities and rural areas. In Toronto, the Gardiner Expressway drones relentlessly, however, our brains can become accustomed to this kind of white noise over time, and health impacts can be manageable. It is the sudden, extreme peaks of volume at any time of day or night, that causes stress and other  deleterious effects. When a driver touches a button to change to a louder exhaust setting, presses the gas pedal, or flicks a wrist merely to make a vehicle unnecessarily louder, they are assaulting people with noise. All over our city (and many cities elsewhere), this disturbing, unnecessary noise first startles us and the resulting reaction within our bodies then harms us. This anti-social behavior, which often is the result of an insecure individual’s need to exert power, is called vanity noise. The increase in road racing, modified mufflers and shrieking braking, has dangerously escalated since the pandemic, indicating additional problems in our society. As we build more condos, which create noise canyons, one driver can reduce the health, safety and quality of life for thousands of people. 

While there have always been people who want to race and who enjoy loud cars, this activity must be contained within official races on dedicated, safe roadways. Unfortunately,  the sound of the engine’s roar and the thrill of speed is being promoted by some vehicle manufacturers, making this problem worse than ever.

If it’s for vanity, it’s 100% unnecessary. Let’s stop it now.

Click the boxes below to hear the types of noises we are talking about:

Current Situation

The process of reporting this noise and enforcing the laws for loud vehicles, is currently ineffective and resource intensive. Some of the issues are:

• The city can’t do anything about moving vehicle noise, yet we are told to contact them about noise issues.
• Often it’s impossible to get the information required for the report.
• While we can report this noise to the police, they have limited resources to enforce.
• They will not chase a vehicle and won’t pull it over for being loud.

Meanwhile, due to the existing laws, Toronto Police Services and the City of Toronto point fingers at each other over who should do what. A trial for noise cameras is a case-in-point. These cameras are in use in other cities and come without the problems encountered by speed cameras, such as aggressive surveillance and ease of vandalism. To implement a trial here, the City and the Police will have to come to some agreement because the City cannot enforce moving vehicle noise, yet it would have to be the ones to buy the equipment, recovering the revenue from any potential fines. Currently, it is easy for the Police to say “we aren’t buying the equipment” and the City to say “it’s not our jurisdiction.”

Laws & Regulations

Below is a chart of how vehicle noise is “mis”managed in Toronto. 

Enforcement

Part of the issue with current enforcement is that it hasn’t been conclusively determined what is the best test for a loud vehicle. Is it an officer’s subjective decision or a decibel threshold? Both have their issues as one may not hold up in court and the other requires equipment. Also, sound is a unique substance which is influenced by the surroundings, weather and other factors. 

Report Motor Vehicle Noise

While it can be frustrating to report motor vehicle noise, it is important to do so. The city and Toronto Police use the information reported to determine problem locations. Every report is a data point that will be used to make future decisions. 

Make reports to 311 (City of Toronto) and Toronto Police Services

For the city of Toronto you have 3 choices

1. Click here to create a Motor Vehicle Service Request
2. Phone call – dial 311 
3. Through the 311 mobile app – click the link to download

For Toronto Police Service

• Make a Driving Complaint

You can also Contact your Councillor 

• Find out who that is at this link
• Tell them about the noise disturbance
• Present a solution

You may not get a response from your Councillor, but they or their staff will read every email. Be polite and concise.

Toronto Police Services

Toronto Police Services has a Board. When they meet and there is an agenda item that relates to vehicle noise, we have made deputations and will do so again. We have a number of allies on the Board, Chair Councillor Shelley Carroll, Councillor Lily Cheng and Councillor Amber Morely are all supportive of NMNT’s work. We need to start deputing to this board so that they hear from us how impactful this unnecessary noise is and that we need their support in recommending automated enforcement.

Solutions

While there are many noise issues to solve, transportation noise, and especially illegal, unnecessary vanity noise should be eliminated in most areas and managed tightly in others. The City, the police and No More Noise need to create a task force to solve this problem, like they have done in Naples, Florida.

There are two main avenues of solving this problem:

1. Stop the noise from happening:
   • Ban import and sale of modified mufflers
   • Fine or shut down automotive shops that perform the modifications
2. Deter the antisocial behavior
   • Change policy: increase fines and add demerit points
   • Improve the enforcement and ticketing process
   • Use automated enforcement

Automated enforcement is being implemented in many cities. The basic equipment is a camera, a decibel meter and microphones, to listen for, correctly identify and send tickets to owners of loud cars. Rhode Island has a trailer with equipment. Various US cities, including New York, use Sound Vue Noise cameras, made in the UK. Naples, Florida is testing a noise camera made in the US.  

Policy will have to be changed in order for automated enforcement to be implemented, which can take time. However, there are solutions to create quieter streets sooner rather than later.

Other solutions

• Education & public awareness
• Changing street design to reduce speeds
• Increased use of current enforcement methods
• Quiet pavement
• Ticketing for vehicle safety, which circumvents the court system
• Anonymous citizen reporting of loud vehicles to authorities