Five-Oh On La Honda Road

I didn't think there was anything illegal about an aftermarket exhaust. Unless they meant Cats.

 

Oh wow. I have a 350Z I was reading about that meet on the Z forum yesterday. Crazy. Hardly anyone of those guys are "legally" modded. Test pipes are pretty common as is really loud exhaust tint and front plates.

 

Well, that's a little scary. Anyody have additional info on this? That could have been us.....

 

I guess once the guy gets pulled over for tint or no front plate (fairly hard to deny), the officer has carte blanche (sp?) to search the rest of the car for illegal components, i.e. anything without a CARB #.

 

I found the verbage on DMV website:

California Vehicle Code states:

27150. (a) Every motor vehicle subject to registration shall at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise, and no muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device.

27151. (a) No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of the vehicle so that the vehicle is not in compliance with the provisions of Section 27150 or exceeds the noise limits established for the type of vehicle in Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 27200). No person shall operate a motor vehicle with an exhaust system so modified.

26708. (a) (1) No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied upon the windshield or side or rear windows.
(2) No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied in or upon the vehicle which obstructs or reduces the driver's clear view through the windshield or side windows.

(3) This subdivision applies to a person driving a motor vehicle with the driver's clear vision through the windshield, or side or rear windows, obstructed by snow or ice.


27150.1. No person engaged in a business that involves the selling of motor vehicle exhaust systems, or parts thereof, including, but not limited to, mufflers, shall offer for sale, sell, or install, a motor vehicle exhaust system, or part thereof, including, but not limited to, a muffler, unless it meets the regulations and standards applicable pursuant to this article. Motor vehicle exhaust systems or parts thereof include, but are not limited to, nonoriginal exhaust equipment.
A violation of this section is a misdemeanor.

5200. (a) When two license plates are issued by the department for use upon a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear.
(b) When only one license plate is issued for use upon a vehicle, it shall be attached to the rear thereof , unless the license plate is issued for use upon a truck tractor, in which case the license plate shall be displayed in accordance with Section 4850.5.
Amended Sec. 27, Ch. 594, Stats. 2003. Effective January 1, 2004.

My Notes: Writing a citation in violation of any of these sections is usually at the discretion of the Officer. A violation usually results in a "correctable" or "fix-it" ticket. The violation can be corrected and signed off by any peace officer and mailed to the traffic court with a 10-12 dollar fee. I have more likely seen this violation used with typical Honda and Acura mods with the 5 gallon bucket type exhausts. Tickets for tint are more common because the officer doesn't like the fact that he can be approaching the vehicle after a stop and not see if the driver or passenger is loading up an AK 47 or pulling the pin on a grenade.....maybe a little drastic, but you get the point.

 

ha.. I guess every single ferrari with the exhaust bypass after 4500 rpm stock is in violation..

 

Just about every vehicle out there, or at least 90-95% of them, has something in it, on it, or around it that can be pulled over for by a skilled officer that knows his/her codes. Once pulled over, there are a number of reasons to search in, and around the car and lift the hood. If they want us bad enough, they'll find a way to get us, it's not rocket surgery.

 

I would hope not. I don't think I've ever met someone qualified to operate on rockets.

I didn't think that a police officer had the right to open a hood, or trunk unless they can visually see something wrong. I was told that as long as it couldn't be seen by the outside then they need a warrant, and that was by a cop I know.

Peter Hatch

 

What about the officer's other senses? You can smell exhaust without cats... You can hear a supercharger's whine or a turbo's BOV, not to mention loud exhaust.

The way I look at it, I do everything I can NOT to get pulled over. Ever heard the expression, "Give someone an inch and they'll take a mile?"

That applies here, I believe. Let's say I (hypothetically) have an illegal exhaust on one of my cars, but it's quiet and from the outside looks stock. It would be silly of me to intentionally not run front plates or have tinted front windows on that car, as those are "gimmes" for an officer to pull me over.

Once he's got me over, I'm not really the type to start demanding to see warrants, acting like I know more about the law than him, etc. I figure that'll only dig myself deeper in the hole - esPECIALLY if I know I'm in the wrong with some other part that he's already figured out.

 

Ok, this may sound ridiculous...but lets play the hypothetical game for a minute:

If we are engaged in some type of activity that covers the required elements of a misdemeanor crime (not hard to do, i.e.: loud exhaust/stereo can be construed as disturbance of the peace [Ca. Penal Code 415], we are considered "arrestable". The officer has the discretion of actually putting us in handcuffs and booking us. In doing so, he/she can tow and search our vehicle pursuant to said arrest for inventory prior to going to the yard, CVC 22651(h). If they really wanted to be not-nice, they could remove exhaust/stereo and book it as evidence to the crime being commited which is more than likely in their presence so they woudn't need a citizen to make the arrest.

Sounds crazy, huh? Thank our forefathers. Maybe we should concentrate on outting laws like these instead of worrying about same sex marriages or where the H@#l Anna Nicole's body is going to be burried. But, I digress....

 

You don't have to be hypothetical at all. All you have to do is drive your sports car in downtown Sacramento on any given Friday or Saturday night and roll through one of their so-called DUI checkpoints. Your car will be fine tooth combed(DOT inspection) and if some irritated cop is working that night on his day off on straight pay, no OT, what he will do is make a little game of it. He will ask you to pull off to the side, impound your car and crank you or your car though the system anyways putting the burden of proof on you pay the fines to get your car out. You think I'm making this up? Channel 3 did a segment on a number of people ticked off because they were "cranked" through the system this way.

 

Screw that... My house would be on the market so fast! "Texas, here I come...."

 

Just because they do it does not mean it's constitutional. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody with influence raises a red flag and it gets escalated to the AG or DA's office. The burden of proof once again is on them and not you and they have to really justify the probable cause especially if DUI is not a case. If it happened to me, they will get sued and there will be hell to pay.

 

I'd like to watch the Ford GT get searched for places to store things.

I can't find any myself and need some ideas.

(and a front plate on it.. if anyone could find a pic of a GT with that..)

 

I'm pretty sure it's noise related. When I lived in Woodside, I was told that residents on Skyline often complain about loud motorcycles and cars. My guess is that they were checking for high decibal levels.

 

That is so hypocritical of the Police. There are several Harley CHP bikes in my neighborhood and none of them have stock exhausts. Another case of one rule for them and another for the rests of us (CHP running stop signs, speeding etc)