Okay so, perhaps you have a radar detector, and you have one of those smart phone apps to tell you where the speed traps are. You are probably not going to try to risk drunk driving, which is a good thing, and now you are willing to wear a seat belt because those tickets are getting quite expensive. You also realize that many of the signals now have cameras on them in case you try to run a long yellow light, as you know they will catch your license plate on camera.But did you know that traffic laws also have to do with noise, and one modification of your exhaust system could get you a $10,000 fine because you are modifying a part of your car that has to do with the emissions. In places such as California we have smog tests, and your car must pass, but if you take off the catalytic converter, drill out holes in the center, or modify the exhaust to give you increased efficiency, or a louder sound you could find yourself in a heap of trouble.If your car is louder than the allowable decibel rating, you could get a ticket for noise. And if you get a ticket for noise, the officer can check to see if you’ve made any modifications, and if they find any modifications have been made, you could get a $10,000 fine for modifying your exhaust system, and on a second offense they can impound and take your car. So much for trying to keep up with the “Fast and Furious 5″ Hollywood movie, yes, that was a great movie, but you know what they say; “don’t try this at home!”The same thing goes for motorcycles, and whereas many motorcycle riders like loud exhaust pipes, because it alerts drivers who have their air conditioning, and radio blasting, and/or are distracted by their text messaging, or iPhone – that those loud pipes will make so much noise they will wake the drivers out of their trance so they don’t pull out front of you. No longer can you get away with loud exhaust pipes, because there are now sensors that some cities are buying which will take a picture of your license plate if your exhaust is too loud or your car is too noisy, just as the signal cameras do.Is this legal? Can the cities and the state actually do this, and send you a ticket in the mail? Yes absolutely, and if you get a fix-it ticket for loud exhaust, you must bring your car in, and you better make sure that you’ve had it modified back to original, or you could get that $10,000 fine I keep telling you about, even if it’s quiet now, simply because they will check to see if you’ve made illegal modifications at that point. In other words you could easily take your car in to get the fix-it ticket checked off, and leave walking back home because they’ve impounded and taken your car. And yes it is all legal, because that’s the law.