California car law

California+car+law

By Erik Santos, Staff Writer

There recently has been so many problems going on throughout the car enthusiast society all around the country but mostly in the state of California. If you do not know what a car enthusiast is well it is someone enjoys buying them, collecting them, working on them, modifying them and anything else that comes to mind. So if you are a car enthusiast then you might understand why people are creating arguments over this situation. This year California has created a law requiring every motor vehicle subject to registration to be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise and prohibits a muffler or exhaust system from being equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device.

This law started back in January but it recently has been a huge toll on people who have their car with aftermarket exhausts because to them it seems unfair to not able to do whatever they want with their own car. Of course many have replaced their exhaust and mufflers because the punishment to violating this law is not so amusing to some. AB 1824 enables law enforcement to issue immediate fines for violating exhaust levels. Prior to 2019 police officers issued so called “fix it” tickets, enabling you to fix your vehicle’s exhaust system within 30 days, provide proof, and avoid paying fines. As of 2019 fines are mandatory, and can range upwards of $1,000. That can really damage someone financially and having to pay as much as that every time you get pulled over for your exhaust is not a great time.

Though, I live in Illinois and not in California so of course it does not affect me but it does get me wondering. What do people who live locally think about this new law, so I went around town to catch on to people who are car enthusiasts and who already have their cars installed with after markets exhaust and mufflers. It is very noticeable when someone is a car enthusiast when their car looks very different than an all-around stock car. “I personally think this getting out of hand because people enjoy modifying their vehicles and laws like this ruin the whole fun adventurous things you are able to do with their vehicle. I totally understand some people could be obnoxious with their exhaust systems but some of us don’t act like that.” says Jose Perez who is a student at MCC. Even people from other states are getting furious over this because they know how it would feel if it were them with that exhaust law.

Marcos Cruz who is a local Woodstock citizen also gave out his opinion when asked about this law. “I think it’s crazy how people who find these aftermarket exhaust systems very annoying should mind their own business. These people are really getting into the governor’s head and with more people going against aftermarket parts then of course eventually everything involving your car will be under a law.”

It seems that mostly everyone who does attach aftermarket parts into their car only want to have some fun and just want to enjoy the satisfaction of building their car. Cruz kept going by saying: “I do understand that maybe a couple of people can take it to a whole other level and people like those are getting the people who are against car enthusiasts attention and they need to quit being irritating with their car. There is a limit on how loud your car could be and I think people should just stick to being in that limit and not overpass it.”

We will just have to see what happens in the future as more and more states are getting inspired to pass this law as well. Some states pass out tickets similar to the ones passed out in California but most of them let people get away easily with their loud exhaust and mufflers. Though it has not been official on which states actually passed this law yet but numerous of daily drivers are still against it and it seems the long battle between the states and car enthusiasts will continue.