Sound, but not THAT Sound

Didn't Chicago used to have a sound ordinance? We recall many a day and afternoon spent at 11th and State in the Hearing Rooms on the first floor, attending court calls at 0900, 1030, 1300 and 1430 before heading off to work at 1600. This was only a matter of time:

• You already know about speed cameras. Red light cameras. Toll cameras that photograph your plate and bill you later. Now meet their cousin. Noise cameras are the newest automated enforcement technology spreading through American cities. A pole-mounted device contains sensitive microphones paired with a license plate camera.

  Your car drives past. If your exhaust tips over the legal decibel limit, a ticket arrives in your mailbox days later. No warning. No officer pulling you over. No flashing lights in your rearview mirror. Just a microphone that never blinks, never takes a break and never misses a shift.

  New York City has been running these since 2021. The cameras have issued more than 1,600 violations and collected nearly $2 million in fines. Get caught once, and you're looking at $800. Get caught repeatedly, and the fine climbs to $2,500.

Where else is this being tested?

• California has six cities running a five-year pilot program with fines up to $1,105. Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, Sacramento and Washington, D.C., are all deploying or testing. Colorado, New Jersey and Hawaii have introduced similar legislation. This is not a local story anymore. It's a national one moving fast, and most drivers have absolutely no idea it's coming for them.

As a reasonably mature, educated and responsible citizen, we maintain our vehicles so that they don't disturb the public. As an old fart, we gave up even thinking about motorcycles a long time ago. 

We can't say we're against this, but we know exactly who is going to be in the wrong 99-times-out-of-100 and we know exactly how it's going to play out.