A Staten Island driver is suing over a “noise camera” ticket for his $315,000 Lamborghini — saying the fine should be dropped because he didn’t modify the supercar to make it louder.…
He’s not exactly wrong. On the face of it, it is a legal contradiction.
NY says the car is legal to drive anywhere within the state.
Then a local government sets a noise ordnance, making the car essentially illegal to drive in that part of the state.
The conflicting laws need to get sorted out. No different than states not being able to make laws that go against federal law.
If they take the same stance as State vs Federal, then the local ordnance being more restrictive than the states would supersede the state law. At the same time it could become unreasonable for individuals to research all the local ordinances they may encounter in a 20 mile trip.
So yah. It’s easy to say “Asshole drives an expensive loud car and complains about the fine.”
But there is more nuance and complications here that could go well beyond cars.
There is no contradiction. Just because the vehicle is licensed for street use doesn’t give the owner permission to operate it in ways that violates the law.
According to city violation data aggregated by the popular website How’s My Driving NY, Aquilino did receive two tickets on that same day in the West Village for blowing through a red light and speeding in a school zone.
He says he was just driving normally but I get the feeling he may be at the very least stretching the truth.
At the same time it could become unreasonable for individuals to research all the local ordinances they may encounter in a 20 mile trip.
It is extremely reasonable. Drivers are always responsible to learn the laws of places they drive. Are you only required to follow the law of your plate’s state/province? Is turning right on red in NYC okay if you are plated outside the city?
NY requires each intersections that aren’t Right on Red to be posted at the light. So you know on a turn by turn basis if you’re allowed or not. A noise ordinance isn’t.
In larger areas sure. Knowing those things is reasonable. But if you’re crossing 15 different little municipalities is it reasonable to expect people to look up all the local laws for each of them?
Either the car is street legal or not, we don’t need to give cops even more power to pull people over and/or ticket them. This is an unreasonable burden for a person.
You could argue the same about emission zones which are common across Europe (mainly in inner cities). Just because your vehicle is allowed on the road, it doesn’t you can drive it anywhere.
No, I mean they already exist. And nobody is looking them up, because who cares? It turns out if you drive vehicles that make reasonable amounts of noise it isn’t a problem.
He’s not exactly wrong. On the face of it, it is a legal contradiction.
NY says the car is legal to drive anywhere within the state.
Then a local government sets a noise ordnance, making the car essentially illegal to drive in that part of the state.
The conflicting laws need to get sorted out. No different than states not being able to make laws that go against federal law.
If they take the same stance as State vs Federal, then the local ordnance being more restrictive than the states would supersede the state law. At the same time it could become unreasonable for individuals to research all the local ordinances they may encounter in a 20 mile trip.
So yah. It’s easy to say “Asshole drives an expensive loud car and complains about the fine.”
But there is more nuance and complications here that could go well beyond cars.
There is no contradiction. Just because the vehicle is licensed for street use doesn’t give the owner permission to operate it in ways that violates the law.
Or at all? Because he wasn’t doing anything unusual. He wasn’t racing, or speeding even. Just driving normally.
Nothing unusual? On the same day he got the noise ticket, he received tickets for running a red light and speeding in a school zone.
If that was at the same time and place as the noise system was triggered, that might matter.
You sure about that?
He says he was just driving normally but I get the feeling he may be at the very least stretching the truth.
Possibly. But we don’t know if that was the case at the location of the noise monitoring.
It is extremely reasonable. Drivers are always responsible to learn the laws of places they drive. Are you only required to follow the law of your plate’s state/province? Is turning right on red in NYC okay if you are plated outside the city?
NY requires each intersections that aren’t Right on Red to be posted at the light. So you know on a turn by turn basis if you’re allowed or not. A noise ordinance isn’t.
In larger areas sure. Knowing those things is reasonable. But if you’re crossing 15 different little municipalities is it reasonable to expect people to look up all the local laws for each of them?
Either the car is street legal or not, we don’t need to give cops even more power to pull people over and/or ticket them. This is an unreasonable burden for a person.
Not it is not. Driver’s licenses are valid in the entire country, the rules of the road should be the same everywhere.
You could argue the same about emission zones which are common across Europe (mainly in inner cities). Just because your vehicle is allowed on the road, it doesn’t you can drive it anywhere.
Agreed. But again its a question of scale. Its reasonable for one larger city. But what about 20 small towns?
I’m with you. But the consequence to sort out the contradiction might be also a state-wide ban if certain boundaries are exceeded.
That could be the case, making the car no longer street legal to buy and register in NY. That’s a reasonable solution.
Aren’t there noise ordinances in every city? Do you look up the specific decibel levels for every city you drive through?
Not all. And not just cities. But small towns, villages, even HOAs. You’d have to check them all.
No, I mean they already exist. And nobody is looking them up, because who cares? It turns out if you drive vehicles that make reasonable amounts of noise it isn’t a problem.
Nah, even if it’s legal, he’s still an asshole.
Both can be true
That’s what I said too.
But he lives in NYC (Staten Island). It’s his own local government.