NOISY EXHAUSTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18552, 26 April 1930, Page 15 (Supplement)

NOISY EXHAUSTS

IMPROVEMENT. NOTED. The recent warning issued by the chief traffic inspector of the Auckland City Council with regard to the silencing of motor-cycles is having a beneficial effect. There are really very few bad offenders but the general public have come to regard motor-cyclists under one uncomplimentary classification. Youth will, of course, be served, and a quick “get away” is the joy of the youngster’s heart, especially when accompanied by the throbbing roar of a powerful motor. Such joys however must be confined to their proper places and the streets of the cities and suburbs are certainly not “proper” places. Speaking at Wellington recently, Mr M. F. Luckie, the deputy-mayor, stated: “Motor-cyclists are a standing menace to the general public because of their constant neglect to obey the by-laws and regulations issued by the city council for the protection and comfort of the general public. They are extremely noisy and a danger to the community.” Naturally law-abiding riders will resent such a statement but it must be admitted that there is a good deal of truth in it. One has only to observe the riders of two-wheelers at the Grafton Bridge and Symonds Streets Intersection at five o’clock to realise the urgent necessity of impressing a few riders with a due sense of responsibility. Noisy exhausts are another matter, but they are the main feature that has caused such antagonism, and which has prompted concerted action by local bodies against motor-cyclists. The various motor-cycle clubs have appealed to their members to effectively silence their machines and generally observe law and order, but it remains for those few irresponsibles to be brought to book before the situation can be regarded as satisfactory.