NEED LEGAL ADVICE A.S.A.P. BEING HARASSED BY SHERIFF. FOR EXCESSIVE DECIBEL LEVEL
 

WHAT LEGAL RIGHTS DO I HAVE . HOW IS A DECIBEL TEST DONE.WHAT ABOUT AMBIENT NOISE.MY BOAT IDLES AT 93 DECIBELS,90 DECIBELS IS THE LEGAL LIMIT. ANOTHER COP WHICH OWNS A LOUD BOAT AND IS COOL TOLD ME THAT THE RIVER COP TOLD HIM HE IS GONNA GIVE ME TICKETS FOR NOISE UNTIL I QUIT BOATING ON THE RIVER. IS THAT HARASSMENT.

Around here with a radio shack DB meter. Idle so many feet away.

90 db 3 feet back and 3 feet above the water at idle with no exhaust cut out used. You might get 3 db from slip in mufflers and dropping idle rpms a little.

Ted

I'm so sick of this sh*t.Most of the people that are *****in are the ones that would be saying "hey man nice boat" if you had an old Century,or boat of that vintage with through
hull exhaust.But those boats are a classic. Bull Sh*t they are just as load.
They all should find something else to ***** about.There's nothing like the rumble of a big block. Whether your going through the marina or going 120 mph. out on the open water. Good luck ! Andy

If you want to bust the cops balls, ask to see his certificate for passing the course on how to use the meter.

Also get the date the meter was last calibrated.

I would fight one of the tickets to have a day in court. You will learn all the ins and outs of the local law jurisdiction and technical abilities.

Hey Bad,
Find out how the law is written for your state or area. Go to radio shack and buy there $35 db meter. Then experiment with it... When the cop pulls you over make sure he does the test correctly! I was pulled over and they did the test, let me go with a warning. Found out they did the test all wrong. But I had a couple of beers and didnt want to have to go thru their other tests. So now I need another gadget to test that so I dont over step there rules.. You would think we were selling crack the way the go after a nice sounding big block.. Screw them.. Know the law better than they do. Have a witness, and go to court, get a jury trial. See if the harassment continues??
Good luck man!!

Isn't it a un-constitutional to single out a certain thing for noise. I see/hear loud cars, trucks, Harleys, planes, parties, etc. all the time. Yet it seems we have been chosen as the people to be hassled. There has got to be a constitutional thing for this. If its a noise issue than all forms of noise should be policed equally and police organizations should show proof that fines/ticket are being issued to all forms of noise, not just boats. Otherwise those law agencies could be accused of singling out just us which would be un-constitional.
Hey, I don't have a problem with other other noise from the above mentioned things but I bet if more people are exposed to the hassles that us boaters are, then maybe enough people can get authorities to back off.
Quick story;
Neighbor lady stated that she hate the sound of the thursday night boat drag races. Then as her husband drives his truck up, I ask how do you like the new sound from the modified exhaust? She said she loves it :rolleyes:
Took my old 26 footer up to a small secluded public lake near Paw-Paw, Mich. We buzzed around the 1/2 mile lake with exhaust open. The old timer down the road called the cops but by the time they got there we had docked. Then he called up his son who drove past on his Harley with straight pipes. He told a neighbor he was there to confront the loud boat on disturbing his dad tranquility :rolleyes:
This singling out has got to stop. Either uniformly enforce or back off.

I think I would have to buy a sedate old Chris-Craft, put about 10,000,000 watts of amplification, and mount a microphone by the exhaust....

This whole Nazi mentality sucks. We don't have any of that crap going on down here, yet. I don't think anyone in Louisiana knows what decibels are.

I dont know what to do now.With tomorrow being the 4th we are taking the boat out and i know them *******s are going to give me a ticket.I think i am going to rig up a hidden kill switch,so that when they pull me over and want me to start my motor back up to do decibel test ,i will flip switch so the motor wont start. Then make the bastards tow me to the dock.You are right ANDY the only ones *****in are the Homeowners Association (small group of rich people who own houses on the river). Oh did I mention that the homeowners bought the sheriff dept their new patrol boat and gas supplly for the year.The boat cost $70,000.So now whenever the Homeowners complain the sheriff comes out and harasses us. I watched as the president of the Homeowners Association was talking to sheriff from his deck,point at me when i was idling by and that is when the sheriff came after me.He was a real dick too.He raised his voice to my wife and 12 yr old girl to get out of the cuddy ,like they were tring to hide. No partying for me until after they stop me i guess.I will keep eveyone posted on what happens.

TODD

I think the wind also has to be very low. Like not over 8 mph or somthing like that. Thay have to measure the wind speed before the db reading taken.