CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A social media post from the Corpus Christi Police Department has garnered the attention of residents as they announced that they will be issuing a citations for loud vehicle exhausts.
The post gained over 700 comments, with many having asked how the department will measure the loudness; some of the more passionate comments coming from car enthusiasts.
CCPD Assistant Chief David Blackmon said the new initiative will reinforce existing rules that the department already enforces.
"We're not going to take away from one thing to enforce something else. I know that's always a concern for citizens, 'Well, we should be concentrating on speeders and not this'. But know we're going to be concentrating on both," he said.
Blackmon said that the volume of mufflers is a quality of life issue and needs to be addressed.
"We're getting numerous calls; the hotels get calls where they say they can't sleep at night because these vehicles are so loud," he said.
He added that there is a trend of people altering their vehicles to increase the tone of their cars.
"We're going to be working off the State Muffler Law and we're going to be working off the city's noise... section of it to address the noises these vehicles are making," he said.
Stingray Alley is known for housing everything from classic cars to fancy Corvettes. Co-owner Bobby Moore said that he is disheartened by the department's initiative.
"It's kind of stupid, because there's so many things you can do rather than go after people's exhaust," he said.
Moore said he feels the initiative will impact small businesses on a grand scale.
"You're not really targeting anybody that's not helping the community. The people who are putting exhausts on the car, they're working people," he said.
His father, Bobby R. Moore has lived in Corpus Christi for over 40 years.
"I've lived near Saratoga, in the middle of the night, I'll hear something going down through there that's probably not compliant. But it's very rarely that I hear anything that I think would be justifiable for them to be able to write a ticket for."
Being a car enthusiast himself, Blackmon said there is a time and place for every vehicle.
"If you've altered your vehicle for racing and that kind of stuff and it's at a level that it shouldn't be driven on the street because of the noise, then you need to find a place that it's suitable for that," he said.
Blackmon said they're not doing decibel readings because Texas law does not specify a limit on decibels. Officers instead will be using the State Muffler Law and city noise ordinance when it comes to enforcement.
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