Court fines!!

He won't need a reading. Check your sound ordinance laws before trying to claim that one. The sound ordinance laws are very vague when it comes to vehicle noise. There is nothing in the (City of Tucson) law that says your car cannot exceed xx dB at xx ft. It only says you cannot do anything to your car with the intention to make it loud or noisy, period. The judge might ask you if you have aftermarket mufflers and when you tell him yes, he might just say you did it to make your car louder.

You might get away saying the stock muffs were damaged and you can't afford to by new ones from Ford. Then you can seek a variance, claiming that a ruling for you to change your exhuast would cause hardship. Your other option, which may be better, would be to just put your stock stuff back on, tell the judge you just installed that aftermarket stuff and didn't realize how loud it was since that was your first drive with it. So you put the stock stuff back on later that week or something (Or just say the stock ones were damaged and you got new ones from a friend) Then tell him you would be more than willing to have it inspected by an officer. Treat it like you would a typical repair ticket.

BUT if the judge thinks you did something to your car to make it loud, then you are screwed.

It will still come down to the judge's opinion, so don't expect him to will take a stroll out to your car to hear how loud it is or that they would care about a deciBel reading.

Hmm. So, no decibel law. So if the cop has a headache that day, your screwed. :BS:

Think about it, how could they accurately measure a car going by? They only apply dB to sustained disturbances like parties, concerts, race tracks, machinery etc. where they can stand there and measure a sustained reading. Metered noises need to be measured for 15 minutes at that level before it's considered a violation (I think, it's been a while since I read the rules).

So yes, the cop giving you a ticket for that is BS in my opinion. Depending on your laws, it may be very easy to fight. In either case, he probably gave you the ticket thinking you wouldn't fight it at all or you would fight it with little knowledge of your local laws and possibly lose anyway.

Chances are the cop isn't going to show for court. Just put your entire stock exhaust system back on the car, and act like it has always been there. How can they prove it wasn't?
Brandon

I agree with John. And you probably won't get far pushing the proof issue - it probably is his word against yours (not a Texas attorney, but that sounds reasonable) - so raise the issue if you like, but don't dink around with putting on stock exhaust and claiming you had it on there all along.

I like the approach of simply saying that your stock exhaust was shot so you went with an affordable alternative. And add that you had were on your test drive immediately after installing it. Then maybe say that you were a little surprised how loud it was yourself, and that you are looking for options to reduce the sound level.

Don't over sell the story though. Judges have seen it all, LOTS of times. And they have surely seen tons of Mustang owners with modified exhaust in on a noise ticket. He's gonna see that on the docket and form an immediate opinion about you. So don't try saying that you had no idea that your car would be any louder than stock. But you could say that you expected it to be only a marginal difference, and that you talked to a lot of other owners and read up on the options, etc.

You are fighting a stereotype here - young guy in a modified Mustang. So if I were you, I wouldn't be the one to bring up the extensive modifications that you have done. Go there if you are asked a direct question about it. But if not, I think your story sells a little better if you simply say that you replaced your exhaust after the stock system failed. And I think it would be brilliant to come in your work uniform (mechanic), as that should add some credibility to whatever you say about the car. Just be sure to play that well too - like it would be great if you actually were coming to court directly from work, or returning thereto after the court appearance. Occasionally they can check on something like that, and a judge would think it really weird if you were off for the whole day but still came to court in work clothes.

Good luck.

What he said makes sense...I went to court with my daughter and tried to fight the same thing...I had pics of the exhaust on the car from my lift,, specs from the manufacturer, 10 pages of chit to back it up...Our story was gonna be as above....
My daughter had a pimped out Eclipse and the cops were always nailing her on dip**** stuff, light covers, tail light covers, tinted windows...

When the state trooper came over to see her I stepped in and and kinda told him where we we going with it and we were gonna fight it...Next thing you know he comes over and tells me he cancelled out and wanted to come to my house and hear the car??? W.T.F. over...He never did come over...

The judge was no dummy either....I would play the " i had to replace it with something and didn't have the money to go to a Ford dealership"...Get a quote on that from Ford...College?? play that up to..I'm broke...

I would study the law, and if there are several points to the law (could hear you at X dB at X ft, and what equipment he used to obtain said reading), how far away he was (take pictures to court with you) whether or not he was up or downwind from you at the time, the weather conditions in general (contact the national weather service for a copy of that day's weather report), traffic conditions at the time he accused you of being in violation of the noise ordinance to prove it was you, etc. If they can't prove EVERY point of the law within reasonable doubt, file a motion for dismissal. Don't perjure yourself in order to save yourself some money. If the judge thinks you're lying, you're SOL. Then you could potentially be charged with the ticket, plus open up a whole new can of worms. See if you can speak to the prosecutor before even going to court, and even if you have nothing, appear to have a strong counter-argument to their case. They may just drop it for the sake of getting another BS ticket out of court.

this is why i hate cops. "your exhaust is to loud" ****ing pussies dont do ****.

Guero said:

this is why i hate cops. "your exhaust is to loud" ****ing pussies dont do ****.

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I don't think thats a fair call...Lets face it, we all know the rules on exhaust...They can bang you on ANYTHING other than stock, period...and the judge will back em up...You wanna play your gonna pay when it comes to loud exhaust....Even worse is doing a 9 grand holeshot downtown and wondering why you get busted...
I throw the clutch in every time I go by a cop...I know mines illegal and choose to take that chance....You wont catch me playing around town either...I'm more likely to get busted in some random area....So far so good though...
I went running up threw the gears in town few years back, soon as I rounded the corner there he was...DAMN....I boogied up a side road, as he was still making the corner and he never found me... Lucked out that time...but like I say...we all know the deal on exhaust...
I don't hold it against the cop if I'm romping on it going thru town and get busted..

they are pussie swhy dont they go bust all the crackhouses on the ghetto, the're scared there gonna get shot.

Guero said:

they are pussie swhy dont they go bust all the crackhouses on the ghetto, the're scared there gonna get shot.

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There are no crackhouses by me, so I'm stuck with a whole town full of cops with nothing to do, except pull people over. You'd be amazed how many DUI's they get in this town, because they stop so many people.