OPP cracking down on excessively noisy vehicles in Ottawa Valley

Police in the Upper Ottawa Valley are cracking down on excessively loud vehicles and illegally modified mufflers.

OPP in the Pembroke area have restarted "Operation Decibel", saying they have received numerous complaints of unnecessary noise.

"All hours of the day the mufflers, the cars are so loud going down the streets and when they rev the engine it makes it even worse," says Constable Mike Mahon with the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP.

At Janna and Kerry's Bar and Grill in downtown Pembroke, the owner says customers have asked to move away from the front bay windows at times because of loud vehicles.

"Some days it can be really noisy," Janna Fortin tells CTV News.

"The only time it's really effective is when they decide they want to rev their engines right in front of our window. It has startled customers before."

"There's been times when we're trying to have a council meeting and the window is open and you've got to stop talking because you can't you can't hear what's going on," remarked Pembroke mayor Ron Gervais when asked if the noise can become excessive.

The traffic campaign is on until Sept. 1. Tickets for excessive noise or illegal muffler modifications are $110 each.

Mahon adds that no decibel reading is required for police to issue a ticket, and that it is up to the officer's discretion if a vehicle is too loud.

"If a little Honda Civic sounds worse than a 5.7-litre Hemi RAM," says Mahon, "then that's probably not factory and it's probably not legal."