help fight loud vehicles downtown

Hey Fredericksburg redditors,

This is City Councilor Will Mackintosh. I'm posting here for the first time because I want to let everyone in this great subreddit know about a bill that's on Governor Youngkin's desk that we need him to sign.

I probably don't have to tell folks on this subreddit this, but the most common complaint I get from folks in the city is about traffic noise, particularly from vehicles with modified exhausts.

The only way we’re really going to get our arms around this problem is with automated enforcement, because we just don’t have the police resources to enforce our noise ordinance as thoroughly as we need to. There is technology out there to enforce our noise limits automatically; they are devices that work like speed cameras, except with a microphone array instead of speed radar. When a vehicle that is too loud passes the device, it snaps a picture of the license plate and begins the process of issuing a ticket. If folks with loud mufflers know they’re going to get a ticket every single time they drive through the city, they will think twice about ripping through town disturbing the peace.

Our challenge to this point has been that we need specific authority from Richmond to do automated traffic noise enforcement, which we don’t have.

Well, that is hopefully about to change!!!! The General Assembly has PASSED HB 2550, which allows localities in Northern Virginia and the Fredericksburg area to use automated traffic noise enforcement as part of a pilot project for the next 2 years. Huge shout-out to Delegate Joshua Cole for helping guide this important piece of legislation and ensuring that Fredericksburg is on the list of localities that can participate in the pilot.

HB 2550 has passed both the House and the Senate, and now it heads to the Governor’s desk for a signature. We need to make sure that Governor Youngkin signs this critical piece of legislation, for the sake of our quality of life.

Here’s my call to action. I’m asking all of you to join me in reaching out to Governor Youngkin to ask him to sign HB 2550. You can call him at (804) 786-2211 or email him at [email protected]. Please reach out soon, and share this with folks in your community so we can let Governor Youngkin know that Fredericksburg wants automated traffic noise enforcement!