Traffic cameras can now ticket you for having a loud car

You know you’re under surveillance at the airport, in a bank or federal building, but watchful eyes extend far beyond that. Depending on where you live, the government could be keeping tabs on you from the moment you leave home. Tap or click here for the top 10 most surveilled cities in the U.S.

Traffic cameras have been around for decades, capturing photos of your car and license plate. They can be used to catch you for speeding, running a red light or driving an unregistered vehicle.

Lawmakers have added a new feature to speed cameras: sound meters to record the volume of passing vehicles.

Here’s the backstory

Cities have ordinances regarding noise, and you can get a ticket for anything from loud parties to the excessive racket from construction. Cars fall under the purview of many locales as well.

You can also be pulled over and ticketed if your car is too loud. Police use a decibel meter to measure the noise from your exhaust. These noise ordinances target modified vehicles primarily.

The Stop Loud and Excessive Exhaust Pollution Act (SLEEP Act) was passed last year to “increase enforcement against motorists and repair shops that illegally modify mufflers and exhaust systems to make them excessively noisy.”

New York City, which has strict laws against noise, started a pilot program last year to catch loud cars and motorcycles via traffic cameras equipped with sound meters.

Loud vehicles can be fined up to $800 for breaking the law, the Associated Press reports. And that’s just for the first offense. The penalty rises to $2,625 if the driver ignores the third offense hearing.

At least 71 drivers have been caught by the sound-measuring cameras so far.

RELATED: How to spot hidden surveillance cameras in your Airbnb, VRBO, and vacation rentals

Are they coming to your city?

Continue reading

$100 for a tank of gas? Top 10 most expensive vehicles at the pump

Gas prices have been hitting record highs, and it’s getting more difficult to justify a leisurely drive to nowhere.

People have been turning to or considering alternative fuel vehicles to reduce the impact of the climbing cost of gas. Electric cars don’t need gas to operate, so it should be cheaper to own one, right? Not exactly. Tap or click here for our report on the cost of ownership for an EV.

Continue reading

Beep-beep: A new bill in California might soon make your car beep at you for speeding. Dubbed “passive speed limiters,” these devices will be mandatory in all new cars sold in the state by 2032, alerting drivers when they’re over the speed limit by 10 mph. Just so you know, this tech is being used in the EU already, and, yes, drivers can turn it off.

Car-tracking shocker: Automakers are sharing our driving habits with insurance companies. With help from data brokers (NY Times, paywall link) like LexisNexis, insurers know every move we make — speeding, hard braking, rapid acceleration, you name it. The kicker? This could spike your insurance bill. I suppose we should’ve known this was happening.