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New
Hampshire Citizens Against Loud Motorcycles (NHCALM) is
a grassroots coalition of New Hampshire residents
dedicated to bringing peace & quiet to our streets &
neighborhoods by passing & enforcing state laws & local
ordinances to assure that motorcycles run legally and
quietly in New Hampshire.
It is
our position that the New Hampshire law regulating
motorcycle noise emissions is unreasonable, allowing
a maximum decibel emission of 106 dB, and the protocols
for testing make reliable field enforcement nearly
impossible.
You can help by signing a petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nhcalm/ that will demonstrate your support of an Act to Reduce Motorcycle Noise Pollution sponsored by State Representative Michele Peckham (R) North Hampton. You can read the full Act here.
We are now initiating
legal action - learn more and
see how you can help.
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us on
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The
current New Hampshire Statute reads:
TITLE XXI MOTOR
VEHICLES
CHAPTER 266 EQUIPMENT OF
VEHICLES
Miscellaneous Section
266:59-a
266:59-a Motorcycle Noise Levels. –
I. No person shall operate a motorcycle which has
a measured noise level of more than 106 decibels on the
decibel meter when measured 20 inches from the exhaust
pipe at a 45 degree angle while the engine is operating
at 2,800 revolutions per minute for one and 2 cylinder
motorcycles and 3,500 revolutions per minute for any
motorcycle with 3 or more cylinders.
II. No person shall pass for the purposes of the
inspection required by RSA 266:1 any motorcycle which
has a measured noise level of more than 106 decibels on
the decibel meter when measured 20 inches from the
exhaust pipe at a 45 degree angle while the engine is
operating at 2,800 revolutions per minute for one and 2
cylinder motorcycles and 3,500 revolutions per minute
for any motorcycle with 3 or more cylinders.
II-a. No person shall operate in this state any
motorcycle which produces a sound level in excess of 106
decibels on the A scale, when measured in accordance
with the provisions of the Society of Automotive
Engineers Recommended Practice ANSI/SAE J-1287 annual
report on ""Measurement of Exhaust Sound Levels of
Stationary Motorcycles.''
III. Any person who violates the provisions of
this section shall be guilty of a violation and shall be
fined not less than $100 nor more than $300.
Source. 1992, 94:1. 1993, 9:1, eff. May 25, 1993.
2005, 266:2, eff. Aug. 21, 2005.
WHAT WE SUPPORT:We
support revoking 266:59-a and replacing it with the EPA
Matching Label Law. In 2007, Denver adopted the EPA
label law as part of their noise ordinance. The
ordinance requires that all motorcycles made after 1982
have an EPA noise compliance label embossed into the
muffler. With consistent enforcement and fines that
begin at $500, in less than two years, Denver has mostly
solved its motorcycle noise pollution problem. Under
federal law, all motorcycles made after 1982, must have
an EPA noise compliance label permanently attached to
the chassis and a matching label embossed into the
muffler. It's a violation of federal law to replace the
noise certified muffler with one that isn't certified.
It's also illegal to tamper with the legal muffler to
make more noise. All of this information is required to
be printed in every owner's manual under the bold faced,
upper case title: TAMPERING WITH NOISE CONTROL EQUIPMENT
PROHIBITED.
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