Vehicles: exhaust systems.

Existing law requires every motor vehicle subject to registration to be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise and prohibits a muffler or exhaust system from being equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device. Existing law further prohibits the modification of an exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner that will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of the vehicle so that the vehicle exceeds existing noise limits when tested in accordance with specified standards. Existing law establishes the motor vehicle inspection program, which provides for privately operated stations that are referred to as smog check stations and are authorized to issue certificates of compliance or noncompliance to vehicles that meet certain requirements. Existing law requires a certain number of stations providing referee functions available to consumers, which ensures uniform and consistent tests and repairs by all qualified smog check technicians and licensed smog check stations throughout the state. Existing law requires stations providing referee functions to provide for the testing of vehicular exhaust systems and the issuance of certificates of compliance for those vehicles that have received a citation for the noise limit violations described above. Under existing law, it is unlawful for an owner to request, cause, or permit the operation of any vehicle that is, among other things, not equipped as required by law. Under existing law, if there is a violation, an owner or any other person who was not driving the vehicle involved in the violation may be mailed a written notice to appear by the court. Existing law authorizes a court to dismiss any action in which a person is prosecuted for operating a vehicle in violation of the noise limit requirements mentioned above if a certificate of compliance has been issued or if the defendant had reasonable grounds to believe that the exhaust system was in good working order and had reasonable grounds to believe that the vehicle was not operated in violation of those requirements. Existing law also prohibits a person from modifying the exhaust system of a vehicle with a whistle-tip, operating a vehicle that has been so modified, or engaging in the business of installing a whistle-tip onto the vehicle's exhaust system. This bill would require a court to require a certificate of compliance for a violation of the noise limit requirements mentioned above for specified vehicles. The bill would require the court to utilize the notification procedures mentioned above and if a certificate of compliance is not provided to the court within 3 months of the violation date, the bill would require the court to treat this failure as noncompliance and inform the Department of Motor Vehicles by following specified procedures. The bill would require the department, before renewing the registration of any vehicle, to check whether the court has issued a hold on the vehicle registration for a violation of the requirements mentioned above and to refuse to renew the registration until it has received a notification from the court that a certificate of compliance has been issued. This bill would also require stations providing referee functions to provide for the testing of exhaust systems of motor vehicles and the issuance of certificates of compliance for vehicles that have received a citation for installing, operating, or engaging in the business of installing a whistle-tip onto a vehicle's exhaust system and for motorcycles that have received a citation for the violations mentioned above. Existing law requires an officer, if, after an arrest, accident investigation, or other law enforcement action, it appears that a violation, including, among other things, a mechanical requirement by law, has occurred, to prepare, and the violator to sign, a written notice containing the violator's promise to correct the alleged violation, and to deliver proof of correction of the violation to the issuing agency except if the officer finds that the violation cited was for a motorcycle that has a modification of the exhaust system in a manner that amplifies or increases the noise emitted by the motor so that the motorcycle is not in compliance with the law. This bill would eliminate that exemption. These requirements would become operative on January 1, 2027.