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Elkridge and River Hill residents urge Howard County delegation to allow local noise monitors for modified vehicles
Summary
Councilmember Deb Young urged the delegation to support HOCO 17-25 to give Howard County the authority to use noise-monitoring devices to detect and cite excessively noisy motor vehicles following years of community complaints about modified engines, drag racing and late-night gatherings in District 4.
Councilmember Deb Young (District 4) told the Howard County delegation that constituents in River Hill and surrounding neighborhoods have suffered repeated disturbances from vehicles with modified engines, late-night car rallies and unsafe driving.
"My district ... has been plagued by cars that have purposefully modified their engines to produce as much noise as possible," Young said, and she praised the bill that would allow the county to use noise-monitoring devices like those used in Montgomery County to detect noxious motor-vehicle noise and issue citations.
Young cited incidents in 2022 where exhibition driving and impromptu drag racing at a local shopping center generated late-night engine revving, trespassing and other public-safety complaints. She told the delegation that police can disrupt organized rallies but have limited capacity to enforce individual noisy vehicles while they are traveling.
"Using monitoring devices in high occurrence areas provides a level of detection that is not currently available or feasible for local patrols," she said, asking the delegation to add Howard County to the list of jurisdictions authorized to deploy such monitors.
The transcript shows no recorded vote on HOCO 17-25 during this hearing segment.
