I live in Virginia, and in my household we’ve had an inordinate number of conversations about loud cars lately. It seems we’re hearing them a lot.
Which raises some questions. We’ve lived here ten years, so why does it seem new? And how do people drive around with their engines un-muffled, obnoxiously announcing their illegal equipment to everyone in earshot, without getting pulled over by the first bored cop who comes within two blocks of them?
Turns out there are answers to these questions! It’s a statewide problem.
From the Virginia Mercury last month:
As someone who once lived near the Richmond Raceway, Robin Mines says she’s familiar with the sound of loud, fast cars. She didn’t expect to have to endure similar noises miles away in her current South Richmond neighborhood, where she says elderly people, children and veterans with PTSD are being rattled late at night by revved-up engines, intentionally loud exhaust systems and people driving “like they’re on a drag strip.” . . .
When Mines asked the Richmond Police to do something about the noise, she says they told her their hands were tied due to a new state law that restricted law enforcement’s ability to initiate traffic stops over equipment issues.
Democratic lawmakers approved that change in 2020 as part of the post-George Floyd push for police reform, presenting it as a way to reduce racial disparities in traffic enforcement by preventing police from using minor vehicle defects as a reason to question or search drivers they believe to be suspicious.
Aha.
When Mines learned police could no longer stop vehicles for noise alone, she and other neighborhood leaders approached Del. Betsy Carr, D-Richmond, about a possible fix. Despite some Democrats’ concerns about re-opening the door to racially biased enforcement, the General Assembly sent legislation to Gov. Glenn Youngkin that would restore police officers’ power to stop vehicles over excessive noise.
That legislation has of course been signed.
It appears that when you stop enforcing laws, people no longer follow them — and that even “low-level offenses” can be pretty irritating when they become common enough.