Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mukilteo police chief: muffler rules are outdated, enforcement hampered by staffing and WAC technicalities
Summary
Mukilteo’s police chief told council that state WAC testing protocols and staffing shortages make routine enforcement of loud‑muffler and traffic‑noise complaints impractical; he recommended legislative fixes and longer‑term state action against manufacturers or sellers of illegal mufflers.
Mukilteo’s police chief told the city council on June 8 that state administrative rules and limited staffing severely constrain the department’s ability to enforce vehicle muffler and traffic‑noise complaints.
The chief summarized the legal framework for vehicle noise, saying the Washington Administrative Code sets decibel levels and equipment testing requirements that have not been updated for decades. He said the WAC lists testing equipment and procedures that are effectively obsolete and impractical for patrol officers in the field.
"Over the whole 40 hours, we only wrote 1 ticket for a muffler violation," the chief said, illustrating the enforcement gap. He described multiple occasions when officers heard violations but could not safely stop vehicles, were diverted by higher‑priority calls or lacked the specific equipment and testing environment required by WAC rules.
The chief explained that WAC language creates two hurdles: an officer must personally observe a modification and courts often require technical evidence. He said more than half of last year’s muffler citations were dismissed in court, and that the WAC’s decibel‑meter physical specifications (for example, a required 20‑inch distance in a flat open area) are nearly impossible to meet on the street.
City councilors asked about manufacturer specifications and whether issuing decibel meters to officers would help; the chief said the meters alone are not a panacea because court admissibility depends on meeting the WAC’s obsolete testing standard and because staffing shortfalls limit the department’s ability to run dedicated traffic enforcement.
Proposed approaches discussed included returning exhaust testing to vehicle registration stations, pursuing Attorney General action against manufacturers and installers of illegal mufflers, pilot automated camera programs with careful legal review, and public‑education campaigns. The chief also noted existing statewide pilot programs for automated enforcement but warned of anticipated legal challenges.
The council agreed to raise the issue with county and state legislative representatives and to continue discussing enforcement and funding during budget season. No ordinance or formal motion was introduced at the meeting.
