The SLEEP (Stop Loud and Excessive Exhaust Pollution) Act, also known as New York Senate bill S784B and S9009 was recently signed into law via New York State Governor Kathy Hochul. The governor’s reasoning for this law is to curb loud vehicles, particularly cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles with loud exhausts.

I and many others like myself who live in the state of New York are car enthusiasts. Many of us like to modify and personalize our vehicles as a hobby, to get away from the stress of everyday life. The majority of us live here in New York City, where noise is a part of our daily lives. There are way too many people who walk across the street or drive distracted because they are too attached to their phones.

There are many instances where having a loud vehicle can help avoid a collision and alert those out of harms way. Having a quieter vehicle can actually be dangerous, as someone constantly looking at their phone will often not notice you therefore increasing the chance of a collision. A reasonably loud exhaust or vehicle helps keep both the driver and a pedestrian alert at all times.

Also this law additionally restricts cars, buses and trucks to a maximum of 60dB, and motorcycles to 95dB. Its completely illogical to have a car, bus or a truck to be restricted to 60dB, when motorcycles have a much higher maximum limit of 95dB. All vehicles should have a reasonable dB limit no higher than 95dB should this law be fair and just to the public as it appears to be.

It’s an unfair yet biased law, as the police can pick and choose who they wish to fine under this new law. This is even more evident when you think about vehicles being limited to 60dB when a normal conversation between 2 or more people is at the very least 60dB if not more. 

Also having the decibel limit capped to 60dB also hurts the manufacturers who make legal exhausts for vehicles, whether it’s for an OEM or a performance application on a vehicle. The automotive industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people, and numerous companies, both big and small, that help to improve the quality of life of all people and not just car enthusiasts and their vehicles.

Vehicle exhausts are not always modified to improve the performance of the vehicle but it’s used to also alert other vehicles and pedestrians of their presence. If you’ve ridden on the back of or driven a motorcycle you already know how dangerous even a simple commute can be. Distracted drivers in cars, buses and trucks, as well as distracted pedestrians sometimes have no regard for motorcyclists, and the feeling is mutual as it goes both ways.

Also, there are many cars, some of which are high performance vehicles, that came from the factory stock with a loud exhaust. And many of those cars already have a decibel limit between 80dB and 95dB, if not higher. The SLEEP Act may not hold up in a court of law especially if the owner of the vehicle shows that the vehicle they drive was already loud from the factory. This is also true for many classic and antique vehicles registered in New York State, such as muscle cars and exotic vehicles, as they were built in a different era, and are thus inherently loud. 

The SLEEP Act also sets a dangerous precedent now that it is now law, in the sense that anything louder than 60dB can be given a fine and ticketed for. Imagine driving a car with the stereos bumping on a nice day outside only to get a fine because its playing louder than 60dB. Or operating a school bus picking up children and getting a ticket because the bus is too loud. Or driving a garbage truck, picking up garbage in the middle of the night, and receiving a summons because the truck is louder than 60dB. 

A reasonable volume limit on a vehicle is one thing, but outright banning the usage of a non OEM or a slightly louder than stock exhaust is another. That doesn’t mean that you as a car enthusiast should be running straight piped exhaust on a car newer than 20 years old, but you also shouldn’t be fined and ticketed  excessively for having a somewhat louder than stock exhaust on your vehicle.

The SLEEP Act is when too much government steps in and provides an excessive amount of oversight and overreach by using a bill that paints too wide of a brush to fine and ticket it’s offenders to generate additional revenue for the state. Especially as it can be used to fine anyone installing and using an aftermarket exhaust, even if that exhaust is an OEM equivalent that is over the dB limit. 

New York State can be a great place to live and thrive for the people that live here or wish to move here. However this state cannot complain about its citizens constantly moving out of the state and wondering the reasons as to why, when this law that was passed falls into one of the reasons why people are leaving in the first place.

I am just one car enthusiast, and I don’t have the power to change the public opinion on my own, however there are a ton of car enthusiasts like myself out there and it is shown that when we show up for support for our local car meets and car shows the turnouts are huge.

The strength that we have and our loud voice speaks in numbers. So the same way we can turn out and support for those events we can do the same here for our passion and our slice of car culture. We have the power to change the SLEEP Act into a law that benefits everyone and not just the select few. 

I as a car enthusiast and as a lifelong resident of New York hopes that all of us car enthusiasts can come together as a collective and make our voices heard. Our lawmakers, whether we personally like them or not, need to hear our voices and realize that the SLEEP Act law is the least of the state and NYC’s list of major problems and that there are much better ways to engage the public to formulate an opinion and law that benefits everyone. It’s time for New York to stop SLEEPing and wake itself up!

Also (and this is very important!) when you sign this petition, please leave a comment down below showing your support and your reasons for signing and how this new law affects you. Thank you!