Enforce HRM By-Law N-200 - Stop Excessive Motorcycle Noise

HALIFAX REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY BY-LAW NUMBER N-200 RESPECTING NOISE states that "No person shall engage in any activity that unreasonably disturbs or tends to disturb the peace and tranquillity of a neighbourhood."
See: http://www.halifax.ca/legislation/Bylaws/hrm/bln200.pdf

Despite the presence of this by-law the unnecessary, obnoxious and disruptive noise caused by riders and their motorcycles with modified (or "baffle-less") exhausts persists un-checked or ticketed within the municipality.

Excuses given for lack of enforcement range from an in-ability to prove an exhaust has been modified, to the claim that '9 times out of 10 a judge will dismiss the charge so why bother?'

Beginning in early Spring, lasting through to the Fall, riders tour up-and-down neighborhood streets engaging in the pass-time of disrupting the enjoyment of our homes and waking our sleeping babies; drowning out our music, disturbing us while we work and deafening our ears.

Summer heat bears down and the simple act of opening a window is punished by an explosion of sound so gratuitous, so unnecessarily unpleasant, it's mystifying.

Claims that modified exhausts are an effective safety precaution used by highway riders to announce their presence has been refuted - motorcyclists claim that "loud pipes save lives" by announcing their presence to motorists, but research tends to contradict them suggesting instead that brightly colored clothes actually prove more effective.

Jim McCaslin, president & CEO of Harley-Davidson himself has publicly asked motorcyclists to curb the noise, to "think about the consequences our actions have on others, before others take action against us."

By-laws such as N-200 pertaining to noise are enforced easily in other regions, as nearby as Fredericton, NB. This is a concern to many, surely a complaint oft-heard by our Councillors. So why no action?

Obviously common sense has yet to reach the ears of the riders themselves so, as a tax-paying resident, we ask: Please Halifax Regional Municipality, enforce your by-law. Stop the Motorcycle Noise.