Controversy revving in St. John's over vehicle modification laws

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As the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary prepares to step up enforcement on illegally modified vehicle exhausts, community members on either side of the argument are weighing in.

The emergence of two new Facebook groups — Pipe Up NL and Pipe Down NL — are lobbying efforts in the debate on loud vehicles across the province. The former serves as a forum to support the car community, while the latter calls on the provincial government to stop illegal after-market modifications and excessive noise.

Pipe Up and Pipe Down have about 2,700 and 600 group members respectively.

Ralph Tapper, a member of Pipe Down NL and former mayor of Torbay, said he joined the group after noticing a rapid increase in overly loud vehicles disrupting the peace.

"It's been growing so much over the last several years," Tapper told The St. John's Morning Show on Monday.

"The word 'excessive' is mentioned in the regulations under the Highway Traffic Act.… But even if you look at the definition of the word 'excessive,' it means 'more than is necessary, normal or desirable.' So this noise is not necessary, obviously it's not normal, and we as a group feel that it's not desirable. That's the key to this whole campaign."

Tapper said he and other members of Pipe Down NL have been working with officials to highlight their concerns and call for action, meeting with the RNC, St. John's Mayor Danny Breen and the provincial government last fall.

"Since then, at least there's been talk at the provincial level and right down the line," he said.

"We sent a resolution that St. John's had passed back in the fall of 2020. We sent that right across the province, and we got tremendous response from everywhere from Labrador to Port aux Basques to Fogo and Fortune.... It's not only a St. John's issue; we got to address that."