Stop Excessive Motorcycle Noise in Mount Vernon!

Loud motorcycles with illegal mufflers frequently use the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway between Woodlawn and the Mount Vernon Estate, and the GW Parkway. These motorcycles are an illegal and highly intrusive source of noise pollution. Approximately 3 out of 4 motorcycles on these roads have illegal mufflers installed simply to make noise, usually 2 to 4 times more noise than the legal muffler.

What other traffic violation impacts so many people? Each time a loud motorcycle travels along the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway and the GW Parkway, hundreds of people inside and outside of our homes are forced to listen to the noise, often every 5 minutes or so on warm weekend days and weekday nights, from early morning to late at night.

Loud motorcycles are not appropriate for the Mount Vernon residential and historic area. Most of the motorcycles on these roads are louder than a semi truck or bus, and some like a jet engine. If all motorcycles used legal mufflers, they would rarely be heard.

A motorcycle cannot be manufactured to be loud since that is illegal under federal (EPA) law. Police can easily identify illegal mufflers and ticket offenders using the EPA Label Match Up Program and Fairfax County Ordinance Section 82-6-26. This is explained below.

Most of these loud motorcyclists come from our neighborhoods; do they consider our right to peace and quiet? Lets take back our roads, homes, parks, yards, porches, and historic areas from this illegal noise. Request enforcement of local ordinances (Fairfax County Municipal Code 82-6-26 and 82-6-27).

The noise from loud motorcycles not only disturbs the peace of our neighborhoods and lowers the quality of life; like graffiti or litter, it also fosters a poor image of the historic Mount Vernon area. The jarring noise leads to health issues associated with increased levels of stress (supported by several studies). If you have concerns about your heart or high blood pressure, there are several published studies concerning noise, stress, and health. Close proximity to very loud motorcycles can lead to hearing damage, particularly in young children.

Consider the impact of loud motorcycles on the hundreds of people who live close to the roads and use the trail along the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway and GW Parkway such as bicyclists, picnickers, sightseers and nature lovers, fishermen, dogs (who have a keener sense of hearing), people with hearing aides, and young children who happen to be particularly susceptible to hearing damage from this type of noise.

There are the approximately one million people who visit the Mount Vernon Estate, and there is an abundance of wildlife including eagles and other birds, foxes, deer, and other animals near these roads. There are sporting activities, gardeners, and dog walkers at other areas such as Grist Mill Park.

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GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKWAY - A National Park

Does noise from motorcycles with illegal mufflers belong in the GW Parkway, a national park? Two new National Park Service management policies stress the importance of mitigating noise. This seems particularly applicable when there are hundreds of people using the bike path which is often located 20 ft from the GW Parkway, and thousands of people visiting the Mount Vernon Estate located at the end of the GW Parkway.

4.9 Soundscape Management: The National Park Service will preserve, to the greatest extent possible, the natural soundscapes of parks.

8.2 Visitor Use: For the purpose of these policies, unacceptable impacts are impacts that, individually or cumulatively, would unreasonably interfere with the atmosphere of peace and tranquility, or the natural soundscape maintained in wilderness and natural, historic, or commemorative locations within the park.

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ENFORCEMENT - Use both Federal and Local Laws

(please see NoiseOff.org for more information)

According to EPA regulations established in 1972 to control noise pollution, all motorcycles manufactured after 1982 must come from the factory with mufflers bearing an EPA stamp. This stamp must be on any mufflers in use on normal roads. A police officer needs to simply examine the muffler on a loud motorcycle to see if such a stamp is visible on the motorcycle muffler. Other cities such as Denver are using this aggressively to curb the widespread noise pollution caused by motorcycles with illegal exhaust systems.

New York City and other cities are using a plainly audible standard to further ease enforcement. Under the plainly audible standard, motorcycles which can be heard from 200 ft. away can be ticketed.

Fairfax County Ordinance Section 82-6-26. Exhaust system in good working order required.

(http://www.municode.com/Resources/ClientCode_List.asp?cn=Fairfax%20County&sid=46&cid=5335)

1. No person shall drive and no owner of a motor vehicle shall permit or allow the operation of any owned vehicle upon a highway unless such motor vehicle is equipped with an exhaust system of a type installed as standard factory equipment, or comparable to that designed for use upon the particular vehicle as standard factory equipment, in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise, annoying smoke and escape of excessive gas, steam or oil. An exhaust system shall not be deemed to prevent excessive or unusual noise if it permits or allows the escape of noise in excess of that permitted by the standard factory equipment exhaust system of private passenger vehicles or trucks of standard make.
2. The term "exhaust system," as used in this Section, means all the parts of a motor vehicle through which the exhaust passes after leaving the engine block.
3. Chambered pipes shall not be deemed to be an effective muffling device to prevent excessive or unusual noise as required in Subsection (a). ((3-13-63; 1961 Code, 16-163.)

EPA Label Match Up Program

The EPA Label Match-Up Program eliminates all ambiguity as to what is or isn't a suitable motorcycle muffler. It greatly lightens the burden on police, who normally would have to place a subjective value like "excessive" or "unusual" on motorcycle exhaust noise, by instead just requiring a simple visual check for the correct muffler label and model specific code. Enforcement is this easy. No sound level meters or special skills are required. See NoiseOff.org).

No Muffler Label = ILLEGAL           Label Present on Muffler = LEGAL

The label on the motorcycle includes the model year, a model specific code that only appears on an approved muffler designed for a specific vehicle, engine rpm during federal test procedure, the statement "this motorcycle meets EPA noise emissions requirements of either 83dba or 80dba" and a warning that "tampering" is in violation of federal law.

The muffler label (in general) states that the exhaust system meets EPA noise emissions requirements and includes the manufacturer's name, noise emissions limit, and a unique model specific code (HOMMBB1000 in these photo examples) that only appears on a motorcycles "motorcycle noise emissions control information label" (previous photo) this exhaust system is designed for.