If Roanoke officials have their way, trucks such as this one will soon be illegal on city streets.
Modified vehicles, whether they cause a noise nuisance or present an even greater danger, have the attention of city officials in Roanoke, and the police department under new chief Tino Brooks plans to enforce city ordinances to crack down on these vehicles.
The Roanoke City Council Monday unanimously agreed to modify its existing noise ordinance to specifically provide for vehicles that create excessively loud noise with their “horns, signaling devices, etc.” and “motor vehicle exhaust, engines or components, etc.”
A long-standing complaint among Roanoke residents in the excessive noise from vehicle mufflers that have been modified to be as loud as possible when the driver presses on the accelerator. The familiar engine roar is literally deafening at times, causing people to pause conversation and even deal with noise inside their homes or businesses as those vehicles pass by.
The new amendment to the noise ordinance allows police officers to pull those vehicles over and cite them for any violation.
Brooks addressed the council Monday to also ask the city to create an ordinance prohibiting squatted trucks from being legal on city streets. Squatted trucks are modified so that the front end of the truck sits much higher than the back end. Brooks said this can be extremely dangerous because it prevents the driver from being able to see the road immediately in front of him.
Some Roanoke residents have even reported seeing the driver of a squatted truck with his head hanging out the driver’s side window just so he could see what was in front of him.
The proposed ordinance would make it illegal for any front-end fender to be a specific height above the ground, and would make it illegal for the front end to be any more than four inches higher than the back end. That ordinance has not yet been adopted, but the council appeared keen to get it drafted and approved quickly.
