Loud Exhaust citation, Niconaut legal advise requested

[centralcoaster33]

Well, I got a ticket last Saturday night and am not sure what to do about it. I would like some advice. I would like to do as little and spend as little as possible to address the citation. I was written up for a Loud Exhaust in violation of Vehicular Code 27150 (a). I'm frustrated for several reasons. My OEM exhaust was rust infested and required replacement to pass smog. I researched the state and federal laws as thoroughly as I could before making any purchase decisions. I'm no lawyer and no dunce and all legislation was available through the internet. I used government website and not someone elses interpretations thereof. I wanted to avoid buying an exhaust system, having it deemed illegal, paying a ticket and buying another exhaust system. Pretty simple, pay for one exhaust instead of two and a fine, right? Everything selected is either a match to OEM, or a near match and is CARB OBD-II compliant and had an executive order, and was assembled at a legitimate shop. No tricks, no bypass, no hollowed cats, etc. The system is over a year old now. I've been followed by other officers of the law with no issue, pulled over for other issues (tail light, speeding, registration sticker) and even cited for them, but none had ever threatened, suggested, or noted anything about my exhaust noise. Prior to this ticket, the only noise complaint was by my neighbor who would say the click clack of my typing this message is too loud!

It is a correctable violation and will cost me only $10 when it's corrected. The thing is, I don't know what to correct! Nor, do I want to correct anything, because that's just more $$! I feel like I'm now guilty until proven innocent. Which is seriously F'd up in the USA! One should have to prove my exhaust is too loud. But I digress. How can I prove my chit is legit? Or can I? I'm certainly not gonna rush over to the dealership to drop $800 on OEM parts. If I can't prove it's legal, how can I feel confident it getting it fixed? Won't the fix be equally subject to the vague interpretation of 'Loud' by any other officer?

In case the question is not obvious, What should I do to address the citation and prevent or be in control of future situations?

I'm tired, need to leave the office and don't want to type anymore. Details of the current exhuast system and the citation story will be added soon, but not tonight.

[shimizu_17]

Well the bar and ref is closed at the moment due to cali's bad budgeting at the moment. But when they re-open take your car there and ask them to ref your exhaust. They look to make sure you have stock header or a header with carb sticker etc, then they sound decibel test the exhaust. If you pass you get a paper with the bar and ref's approval. So if you ever get pulled over by a cop you flash them that and you are untouchable for exhaust tickets.

As for now I say grab a used oem muffler or stock exhaust system off the forums or craigslist. I wouldn't be surprised if someone just gave one to you or let you borrow it for the day, go to the police or chp station (whoever cited you the ticket) and have it written off. Its illegal for cops to give non-correctable exhaust tickets. Law enforcement has the right to pull you over and cite you if they think your exhaust system is to loud. Unless you have paperwork from the bar they are not going to give a damn what you say. If you do not have a oem looking exhaust system but a N1 style or just some big visible muffler then your sorta screwing yourself over for attention.

[fueler]

u r right, its a $10 fix it ticket if u fix it.

i had the same ticket in my honda - heres what i did: i went to the police station with the same damn exhaust i got a ticket with. They asked me what I had done to fix it, i said it was an extremely loud and illegal cherry bomb before and that i replaced it with a street legal exhaust with muffler (when in reality i didnt change a damn thing)

they took a quick glance at the chrome muffler and signed off the ticket. Didnt even ask me to turn on the car. $10. Try it. If it doesnt work, try again at the next closest police station, so forth and so forth til it works. Worked first try for me.

[centralcoaster33]

Hey thanks fueler. That's so wild I'm actually willing to try it! Especially since it sounds like it can't hurt at all... Thanks also to Shimizu_17. So, I bring my receipt from the bar, showing how many beers I bought before going for a drive, show that to the officer and he can't give me a ticket right? You have suggested the preferred route! Haha, okay, really, I am willing to pay a little $$ for some legitimate documentation of the compliance of my exhaust. I spent a while researching and made every effort to adhere to the law. I just underestimated how subjective our laws can be. The bad news is the governator shut down so much of our state that the ref's might be closed for the time being. I don't see how these laws can be enforced now and that just adds to my frustration. I might request an extension of the ticket until the state decides to finance ref's again or might be willing to fight the ticket if I can find more supporting legislation. It appears that SEMA might have been able to pass some laws in '02 regarding this very topic. Know anything about this?

Thanks for the tips guys. Any others out there? I wish I could find someone with a decibel meter to at least ball park what I'm up against. There is a small chance I need to add back a resonator that I eliminated from my design. It's true, the exhaust is loud, not harsh, annoying or unreasonable, but yeah, loud. Maybe I can find a way to post the PDF of my design.

[centralcoaster33]

Maybe this picture will work for me, converted PDF to JPG...

I did get the desired header, with CARB E.O. Sticker from GReddy and a print out of the actual E.O. in the glove box. Open for comment of course.

[fueler]

stainless steel, not steal a greddy carb EO should work great, it doesnt get any more legal than that!

[centralcoaster33]

I wanted to save money and hoped the exhaust would be a steal!

Yeah, the officer did make me pop da hood, but didn't care about the header. He certainly noticed it and I told him about the E.O. and sticker and he was cool with that much. Stuck to his guns about it being too loud though. Man, I almost got out of it. Both were auto enthusiasts which became obvious the more we talked. I almost think he would have just let me go if he hadn't already started filling out the citation earlier. His last words as walking away were, 'shoulda gotta Chevy!'

I still gotta figure out this referree thing and will call tomorrow to see if they have closed down everything or not. If they're closed, I'm gonna try the 'I fixed it' routine.

[fueler]

aw man chevys are tight i have to agree with him.

try another police station.

and yea its confirmed state refs are closed.