Fredericton police push for bylaw changes to aid crackdown on noisy vehicles
Proposed amendments would remove reference to maximum decibel levels for motorcycles
Fredericton's police chief says a strategy to combat noisy vehicles hasn't worked for the past three years, and is hoping further changes to the city's noise bylaw will help officers crack down on the use of excessively loud cars, trucks and motorcycles.
In 2021, Fredericton city councillors approved amendments to the city's noise bylaw, which set maximum decibel levels that could be produced by a vehicle, and give police the power to enforce it using decibel-reading devices.
Police Chief Martin Gaudet is now asking council to amend the bylaw again in order to repeal all references to decibels, units of measure, sound tests and instruments related to measuring the volume of noise produced by vehicles.
Gaudet wasn't at Monday's meeting, but gave councillors a heads-up about the proposed amendments at the previous meeting.
At that time, he said officers tried using the decibel readers to enforce the bylaw for the past three years, with little success.
"That didn't work out so well for us. We realized that it's been a cumbersome process. It's a little difficult, so we are asking to simplify things," said Gaudet, speaking at the March 25 council meeting.
Gaudet said removing the sections regarding decibel levels would hopefully give officers the tools needed to enforce the bylaw, but didn't exactly say how.
"We know that it's a significant issue for our community and people are upset, and rightfully so.
"And if it matters to them, it matters to us, and we find that the existing tools that we're using just doesn't work all that well."
If the sections of the bylaw regarding decibel levels were removed, the bylaw would be left with another section pertaining to "prohibited noises," which is worded broadly.
That section states, "No person shall make, cause, or permit any Noise likely to cause a public disturbance or disturb the peace of another individual."
Anyone ticketed for violating it could be subject to a $250 fine.
On Monday, Fredericton councillors gave first and second reading to a motion to amend the bylaw. A third and final reading will be done at its next meeting later this month.
A long-standing issue
Excessively loud vehicles — particularly in the downtown — is an issue that Fredericton city hall has tried to combat for years.
The amendments in 2021 were thought to be the final solution to a problem that particularly ramps up in the summer months, when restaurants open their patios at the same time motorcycles hit the streets.
But according to Gaudet in a report to council, his staff have had three years to evaluate the results of the current bylaw, and found it to be "ineffective."
Last August, statistics provided to CBC News revealed that since the amendments were made in 2021, police had issued a total of five tickets under the bylaw.
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