Toronto will take steps to curb excessive vehicle noise in the city, appealing to the province for higher fines and stricter rules on exhaust system modifications that make cars louder.
The city will also, as part of its noise bylaw review next year, introduce a sound level limit for vehicles when their engines are not running. Currently, the noise law only has a decibel limit for motorcycles.
Councilors approved these measures this week, among others, after receiving hundreds of complaints about excessive vehicle noise from Torontonians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents said the city and police are not doing enough about the problem, enforcement is lax and previous efforts by the city to reduce vehicle noise have largely failed.
“I would like to see robust enforcement across the board,” Cone. Paula Fletcher, who represents Toronto-Danforth, told council Thursday. “I don’t think we have it under control, or even somewhat under control, in the way that citizens and residents expect us to.”
Council also decided at its marathon meeting to order Toronto police to conduct more joint blitzes with city law enforcement officers and provide officers with noise meters, all in an effort to deal with unnecessary vehicle noise violations under the Traffic Act on the highways.
Count. Shelley Carroll, who represents Don Valley North, agreed the city needs to do more to reduce vehicle noise. She noted that the council had accepted proposals regarding excessive vehicle noise for years.
Carroll said she lives near the Don Valley Parkway and wears orange earplugs every night because the noise from vehicles disturbs her sleep. Her constituents experience the same problem, she said. Complaints are piling up and the province needs to listen to them, she added.
“It won’t go away until you really put full force on it. I hope they’re listening loud and clear,” Carroll said. “We’ve got to get to it.”
“We still have work to do on this,” says an official
Carlton Grant, the city’s executive director of municipal licensing and standards, told council that police and bylaw officers conducted joint motorcycle checks in Yorkville, Don Valley Parkway and Lawrence Avenue, and Lake Shore Boulevard West in south Etobicoke.
On Saturday in Yorkville, police and law enforcement officers impounded more than 10 motorcycles and filed three charges. More blitzes are planned for this year, he said.
“We’re still working on it. And we have more work to do,” Grant said.
Count. Paula Fletcher, who represents Toronto-Danforth, says of excessive vehicular noise: “I don’t think we’re controlling it, not even a little bit under control, the way citizens and residents expect us to.” (Keith Whelan/CBC )
In a news release Friday, Mayor John Tory also acknowledged the problem.
“Excessive vehicle noise, which in most cases is the result of vehicles that have been intentionally modified to create such noise, is a major nuisance to residents in many neighborhoods in Toronto,” Tory said.
Specifically, the city will ask the Ontario government to:
- Increasing fines and assigning offense points for altered exhaust and unnecessary vehicle noise offenses under the Road Traffic Act.
- Develop stricter and more specific regulations on vehicle modifications, including provisions allowing for periodic inspections of vehicle exhaust gases and potential modifications.
- Make regulatory changes to allow the city to initiate an automated noise abatement pilot project.
Council also decided that the city will remind licensed garages that cut-outs, straight mufflers, gutted mufflers, Hollywood mufflers, bypasses and similar devices are prohibited under the Highway Traffic Act.
The City Council resolved that the City will remind licensed garages that cut-outs, straight mufflers, gutted mufflers, Hollywood mufflers, bypasses and similar devices are prohibited under the Highway Traffic Act. (Ken Linton/CBC)
And when it revises its noise bylaw in 2023, the city said it will:
- Explore options for setting decibel limits for such devices as leaf blowers, lawnmowers, grass trimmers, and chain saws.
- Report on technological developments in noise-activated cameras and automated noise enforcement.
- Research the health effects of noise with the help of Toronto Public Health.
- Report noise from city vehicles and fleets, including garbage trucks.
As for the noise from leaf blowers, the city said it will launch public information campaigns in the summer and fall to educate residents about proper use of the machines and alternative ways to keep yards clean. It will also advise residents on green technologies.
“There’s this amazing thing called rake that works and it’s really effective,” Toronto-St. Earl of Paul. Josh Matlow said.
The council also decided to limit the time allowed for noise from electrical devices such as leaf blowers, lawnmowers, grass trimmers and chain saws to one extra hour on weekday mornings. Starting September 1, weekday noise from these devices will be allowed from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Previously, the hours were 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday noise restrictions remain unchanged and noise is permitted from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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