Toronto mayor wants crackdown on too-loud cars

Toronto’s mayor wants to use new technologies to hit drivers of excessively noisy cars and motorcycles with steeper fines, a letter sent to the city’s licensing and standards chief reveals.

The city’s noise bylaws are generally meant to keep the volume of nuisances such as construction, barking dogs or loud music in check, but that could change slightly to focus more on vehicles’ exhaust notes after a review of the municipal legislation is completed late 2019, reports the Toronto Star.

“It is my view that over the past year in particular this has become a much more widespread problem, affecting quality of life for residents and visitors alike,” says Mayor John Tory’s letter to Tracey Cook, executive-director of municipal licensing and standards, as quoted in the newspaper.

“It is disturbing people in their homes, during the day and at night, it is disrupting business and it is having a negative impact on tourists, all in the apparent cause of feeding the egos of inconsiderate people.”

Tory asked Cook to look to cities such as Edmonton and London, England — which recently put in place decibelmeter and red-light-camera devices to capture noisy cars and slap them with significant fines — as examples of the direction in which he wants to take Toronto.

The current bylaw specifically prohibits noise only at times when it is likely to be especially disturbing to residents. Local police are largely tasked with dealing with noncompliance, but Tory would instead like to see bylaw officers track down violators.