Moped muffler requirement is up for final vote

Mopeds would be required to have mufflers under a bill up for a final vote of the Honolulu City Council today.

Councilman Tommy Waters, who introduced Bill 53, said he wants mopeds to follow the same regulations as cars, trucks and motorcycles.

A state law already requires that mopeds, like motorcycles, be equipped with mufflers if they are on public highways. The law also prohibits the modifying of an exhaust system in a manner that would amplify or increase the noisiness of a moped or motorcycle. The city law also regulates noisy mufflers on all motor vehicles but leaves mopeds out of the definition of motor vehicles.

Waikiki resident Denise Boisvert said loud mufflers keep her and her neighbors up all hours of the night.

“Although residents of Waikiki can hear hundreds of them a month, the police only seem to be able to issue tickets to a few of them,” Boisvert said. “Loud and/or modified mufflers wake people up in the middle of the night, set off car alarms and force people to stop talking until the vehicle has passed.”

While she’s also averse to noisy cars, trucks and motorcycles, it’s easy to distinguish the loud noises coming from mopeds because they tend to be higher-pitched, Boisvert said. “I can tell the difference,” she said.

Robert Finley, chairman of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, also submitted testimony in support of the bill, citing concerns similar to those raised by Boisvert.

But Akihiro Murakoshi, owner of retailer Mr. Scooters Hawaii and repair shop Moped Doctors, said reducing the number of loud mopeds starts with stepped- up enforcement by Honolulu police. Most newer mopeds are quieter — and all have mufflers, he said.

Robert Sato, Moped Doctors safety inspector, said state laws and rules already require mopeds to have mufflers and not emit noises higher than 100 decibels in order to pass inspection. “You could pass all the laws you want to about noisy mopeds, but until they actually start arresting these people (with modified mopeds), writing them tickets, confiscating their mopeds, impounding them — unless they start doing that, the issue is going to continue whether they pass this bill or not.”

Sato said mufflers are only half of the noisy moped problem. “A lot of times these modified mopeds … have these big, modified carburetors which they open up,” he said.

Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard, in written testimony, took no position on the bill.

“Officers will take enforcement action when they see and hear loud noise being emitted from a vehicle’s exhaust, taking into consideration the approximate distance from the officer to the vehicle in violation,” Ballard wrote.

Officers aren’t now trained to determine exact decibel levels, nor do they have the equipment to take noise decibel readings. They instead use their discretion “based upon their training, experience and observations” to determine whether noise is “excessive or unusual” and a violation, Ballard said.

Waters said the main goal of the bill is to clarify the existing law requiring mufflers on motor vehicles to include mopeds.

“I want to work with HPD about decibel meters in the future,” he said.