Kelowna man wants help getting police to crack down on noisy motorbikes
When Kelowna city councillor Luke Stack mused out loud about noisy motorcycles during a discussion last month about the planned closure of Bernard Avenue to traffic this summer, he may have touched a nerve.
“A nice side benefit of this, on the weekend, people love going down Bernard and just revving their engines as loud as they can on their motorbikes,” Stack said at a May 25 council meeting. “I just thought, ‘man, we’ll be able to walk up and down Bernard for the first time and not listen to Harleys trying to deafen us as they impress us with their machoism.’”
READ MORE: Bernard Avenue in downtown Kelowna will be closed to traffic this summer
Now Kelowna resident Robert Clarke has taken up the issue by calling for supporters to sign a petition for greater enforcement.
“It is unacceptable that they are able to create such noise that it disturbs people who are sleeping or have conversations in their yards or on their balconies on busy streets,” he wrote.
He says the “British Columbia Highway Traffic Act” prohibits driving of motor vehicles without mufflers or with stock mufflers being replaced.
Clarke’s petition calls on the RCMP to ticket vehicles for excessive noise and require them to be inspected.
He started the petition yesterday and had 29 signatures by early afternoon today, June 9.
The Motor Vehicle Act Regulations are here.
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