If you’ve got a modified exhaust in California in 2019, I’ve got some bad news for you if you’re trying to avoid a ticket.
Before, if a police officer slapped you with a modified exhaust ticket because they heard you from a mile away or you were dumb enough to bang off your rev limiter at a stop light and they heard your Borlas (because Magnaflows wouldn’t be that heinous) you’d get a fix-it ticket where you could slap on your old exhaust, either go to a ref station or your local police station to get it signed off, and then just pay a $25 fine. Those days are long gone.
http://gty.im/1039204656
As per the CHP in a press release they put out before the end of the year, in a long list of changes to the vehicle code, included in that list is , “Certain vehicle exhaust violations no longer correctable (AB 1824, Committee on Budget)”
Here’s what the statement reads.
A fine will become mandatory, not correctable, when loud motor vehicles and motorcycles are cited.
Previously, a driver or motorcyclist who was cited for modified or excessively loud exhaust or muffler systems could correct the violation to avoid a fine.
That means police can hit you with a modified exhaust ticket and you’ll have to pay what I presume is the full fine amount of $200 each time. Base fines for a modified exhaust are just $25 but tack on all the court fees and total fine amount is around $200. So, you can either pay the fine or go to court to contest the validity of the ticket. Also, the police will put a stipulation on the ticket to present your car at a ref station or police station to confirm that your exhaust is within the law within a certain amount of days. Don’t think that you can just pay the fine and go along your merry way, you’ll still have to put on your stock exhaust. What you do AFTER you get your OEM exhaust confirmed by an authority is up to you.
So, what is a modified exhaust? Basically, modified exhausts fall into two categories. The first is if you neglect your exhaust and it gets rusted out, making it louder. Ticketable. The second and more common among car enthusiasts is if your modified exhaust now makes a sound louder than stock that needlessly attracts attention. Again, ticketable.
According to TicketSnipers.com, an exhaust can’t make a sound louder than 95 decibels when tested under specific conditions. The law doesn’t say can’t have a modified exhaust, period, it just means that it has to be a quiet one. So, shop around for one that’s known to not attract attention.
Buddy Club Spec II exhausts? Out of the question.
Otherwise, it’ll be $200 everytime you get pulled over, no more fix-it ticket for a cheaper fine.
Source: CHP
[…] the Irvine police did not specifically say why 20 were ordered to go to a state ref, most likely they used the new AB 1824 law which allows any police officer to slap you with a $200 fine if they deem your exhaust is not […]
This is just a way for the state to make more tax revenue. It is unfortunate that the police departments are focusing on giving traffic citations to hinder upon the freedoms that this country apparently stands for. The police in California are becoming a tax revenue collecting service attacking people who are not harming anyone. Traffic division officers are the worst they do not protect and serve anyone except the state government. Uneducated high school graduates that become traffic officers are untrained tax collectors that deserve to be unemployed. Police departments do not respond to emergency situations anymore with prompt response times. The inability to protect the communities you serve in is a disgrace to the American People! Please reform yourselves it is upsetting that tax payers pay for mediocre services that burden the working people. Military personnel are highly trained and excel at what they do while the police forces in the state are mediocre untrained and lazy individuals sucking off of the tit of the tax payer!