Problem with Wisconsin State Patrol

[George Roffe]

Ben Davis wrote:

>How... why does the law do this? Why the hell are there laws for not
>having a stock exhaust?!?! That's absurd! That would put all the exhaust
>shops anywhere in the state out of business!!!

The law does not prevent having a non-stock exhaust.  It prevents having
one modified to increase noise.  We'll come back to this.

>Fight this bullshit. I *HATE* stupid automotive bullshit laws like this.
>There is no WRONG in having a exhaust different than stock. I could see
>maybe a noise law, but as discussed on this list before, it would be hard
>to even prove this in court. They would have to have a specific instrument
>for measuring noise at particular positions and distances from the car,
>and even then different exhausts cause different noises at different
>places relative to the car and different qualities of noise, if any
>noisier at all.

Ah, now this is true.  In point of fact, this law should be difficult to
enforce since it requires an officer to draw an opinion on noise and decide
whether or not to issue a ticket.  That aside, I would wager that the vast
majority of the tickets they issue for this are indeed legitimate (the
exhaust is indeed louder than stock).  What is absurd about this is
establishing a baseline for any vehicle and then *proving* and exhaust
exceeds the baseline for stock.  Pretty goofy.

>Why is our country turning into an oppressive state as far as automotive
>laws go? It is a CRIMINAL ACT to exceed a arbitrary speed on any
>particular road, same that rape, murder, theft, and other victim-oriented
>crimes are.

Our laws are far from oppressive.  There are countries that do not allow
any modifications to a vehicle regardless of what it does.  It could be a
*lot* worse.

>Who the hell cares if I do 120 on the interstate? Who cares if I go 36 on
>a road arbitrarily forbidden above 35? So my exhaust is noisy? You don't
>like it? Then lodge a complaint- it's not the law enforcement's job to
>decide whose car is too noisy. Having a loud ass stereo isn't against the
>law- but if someone complains, then the law should take action if the
>dispute between the two parties cannot be resolved.

Well, you're not going to like my answer.  Don't shoot he messenger though.

While I personally enjoyed driving as fast as I could on the Autobahn, and
trusted those around me, I wouldn't trust most Americans to drive on the
freeways at such speeds.  As for the noise, well, there are the rights of
the individual and the rights of the rest of the population to
consider.  Personally, I wish there was some way for law enforcement to
ticket assholes who turn their stereos with THUMPIN' bass up so far that
they couldn't hear an emergency vehicle, let alone hear things around them
that might prevent and accident (if you don't listen to your car or your
environment, things can bite you).

The fact is we live in a society where most people feel "there oughta be a
law" for everything they don't like.  We have a legal system mired in
minutia over minor definitions.  We had a president who boldly lied to
congress and got away with it (regardless of whether you liked Bill, he
admitted to lying to congress and had his law license suspended as a
result).  Basically there  is no longer any common sense in the law.

We have people who drive their cars dreaming that they are Michael
Schumacher at Monaco, or Adam Saruwatari at some drag strip, or even just
don't give a rat's ass about others on the road.  The bulk of them (but
certainly not all of them) are people who tinker with their cars.  Since
our legal system no longer relies on common sense, legislators looks for
other ways to deal with these nuisances.  Why?  Well, first because they
are an easy target and second because they are trying to suppress those who
don't give a rat about anyone else.  As a result, other folks take the
brunt of it as well.

Is it right?  No.  But it gives the legal system a way to go after these
people in a shotgun approach.  Why do you think some of us rail against
street racing and other stupid stunts people pull on the street?  Because
other folks get pissed and make stupid laws that hurt all of
us.  Personally, I'd just as soon have anyone caught street racing, or
attending a street race have their car confiscated.  Pretty harsh.  But
then I wouldn't have to pay for their stupidity.

>These ideas bother me to such a degree that I almost want to form an
>organization against the government(s) to go against these issues.

Well, then do it.  You have to do a number of things.  First you have to
get enough voters together for legislators to even take notice.  You have
to hire lawyers.  That means you have to have some way of raising money or
get an attorney to join your group and donate his/her time and
resources.  If you want to not waste your time you have to be
professional.  That means you actually monitor the laws.  You need to issue
press releases that stick to the facts as much as possible so that the
press even gives you the time of day.

It would certainly be easier if everyone would just act responsibly, but we
don't live in that world.

BTW, don't shoot me.  I'm only the messenger.  You may or may not agree
with or like what I've written, but you asked why and got an answer that's
probably not too far off.  Not the most complete, but it covers a lot of it.

I personally feel there should be less laws and more discretion should be
given to judges, but our society doesn't seem to like that either.

George Roffe
Houston, TX
91 SE-R (well modded)
91 G20  (well modded)
84 944 SCCA ITS race car under construction
<http://home.earthlink.net/~geo3/>