Verdun is trying to make its streets quieter. The borough has joined Ville-Marie in adding cars to its nuisance by-law. Now in force, the municipal regulation primarily targets modified and luxury vehicles. Cars making too much noise are waking people up in the middle of the night and affecting their quality of life, says Verdun borough mayor Marie-Andree Mauger. “Some people tell me almost every month that, it’s very disturbing,” she said. So, the borough is cracking down. Last week, the borough council amended its nuisance by-law to include loud cars. “We want to send the message that, it’s important for us that our neighborhoods are quiet and that we do respect each other and that my pleasure doesn’t, wake up other people,” said Mauger. Montreal police can now give tickets if they judge, by ear, that a car is too loud. “It’s anything that has to do with excessive noise coming from a motor vehicle. It, it could be the driving. It could be the exhaust system, the engine,” said Montreal police commander Francois Sauve. Police say the problem is particularly bad on boulevards in Nuns’ Island. The long stretches of road without speed bumps allow drivers to easily pick up speed and make noise. “Unfortunately, it has become a huge problem, especially in Nuns’ Island, but also elsewhere in Verdun,” said Sauve. To measure the intensity of sound, police used to use a sound level meter. The borough says it looked for a simpler solution and settled on trusting officers’ judgment. “it’s very simple to, to apply this bylaw. We don’t have to wait for special equipment, it’s already in force,” said Verdun’s mayor. Mauger says she hopes the amended by-law will make a difference; however, there have been no results reported yet.,
