“Earlier the summer, we got a break from all the motorcycles speeding up and down here,” she said. “Now, they’re back in full force.”
Every year as the weather warms up, the issue of loud, rumbling motorcycles in residential areas in St. John’s comes up and gets people fuming.
This year, things seem to be heating up.
Dozens who live in the area of Signal Hill Road showed up at a public meeting at St. John’s City Hall Tuesday evening to express their outrage. Many complained that the loud motorcycle engines keep them awake at night and that their concerns are being ignored by city council.
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Whalen wasn’t at the meeting, but she agrees with her neighbours that something has to be done.
“They’re at it all the time here,” said Whalen, speaking Wednesday from the front door of her home, where she’s lived for 20 years.
“You’ve got to have the TV up on bust to hear it (over the sound of the loud motorcycles) and you can’t open a window. It’s ridiculous.”
At around the same time meeting at city hall was clewing up Tuesday, a group of about 30 bikers were seen and could be heard zooming up and down the hill in what some say seemed like a protest against the complaints about them.
“Oh my God, it was so loud,” Whalen said. “A whole bunch of them tore up and down the hill.”
Dave Doherty was just getting home when he heard them coming down the hill at around 8:30 p.m.
“See that mark there?” he said, pointing to a long skid mark near the stop sign at the bottom of the hill. “That’s where they were skidding, revving their engines, spinning their wheels, bawling out.”
Doherty has lived on Signal Hill Road for more than 30 years and said it seems like bikers come up the hill just to speed.
“They passes the stop sign here and just gives it to her,” Doherty said, pointing up the hill. “I’m sure they go up to 100 km/hr.
“Now, it’s not all of them, but some of them don’t care what kind of racket they make.”
Long-time motorcyclist Jody Warren of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club said the public display by the groups of bikers on Signal Hill Tuesday night was inappropriate.
“I can understand (bikers) being frustrated by the fact that it comes up every year, but if you ride a motorcycle and you’re trying to garner support, that’s not the best way to do it. It’s not doing you any favours.”
He said the best way to deal with the issue to have open discussion with councillors and politicians to get the issue settled once and for all.
Over the years, Warren has been a part of motorcycle groups that have been at city hall to discuss the issue.
“I think city hall needs to roll up their sleeves and do something once and for all,” said Warren, who suggested police start ticketing riders with modified exhaust pipes or ban motorcycles from Signal Hill altogether between certain hours.
However, he’s quick to point out that it’s not only motorcycles that make loud noises.
“There are muscle cars, loud stereos, trucks,” he said. “Noise pollution is a problem in this city, but don’t single out motorcycles.”
Mike Strickland, a resident of the capital city, said shortly before 8 p.m. , he and his friends seemed to be targeted Tuesday night by a woman who sprayed them with Raid while they were on a group ride on Lake Avenue.
As luck would have it, Strickland said he had just lifted his visor to clean it when they got doused.
They were treated at hospital for minor injuries, but the incident left them shaken.
“My eyelids were burning…,” said the 33-year-old, who said they were in the back of a run with about another dozen riders.
The three managed to pull over and turned around to confront the woman who did it.
“I said, ‘Excuse me, but what are you doing? Why did you spray us?’ She started yelling and said, ‘You’re a nuisance. You’re a danger to society!’ We couldn’t believe it. I kind of felt bad for her, but she can’t be doing that.”
Strickland said one of the neighbours approached them and asked if they wanted to use his hose to wash out their eyes. The police showed up shortly after, he said.
The incident is still being investigated.
He said the incident happened before the public meeting, but believes it’s tied to the debate of loud motorcyles.
“We realize people are upset, but we just don’t want (attacks on motorcyclists) to be a thing. Someone could’ve gotten killed last night.”
“It’s not the way to handle it.
So, just how can it be handled?
Coun. Sandy Hickman said he understands residents’ concerns, but said it’s not the city’s responsibility to enforce laws regarding moving vehicles. That’s up to the provincial government.
He said every spring council sends a letter about the issue to government.
“Everybody blames the city, but it’s under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) …,” Hickman said.
“We do our best to create awareness and ask people not to alter their vehicles, but it’s frustrating.”
The HTA and regulations prohibit the modification of vehicles beyond the manufacturers specifications.
According to Service NL, “As part of Bill 13, which received first reading in the House of Assembly in May, Service NL is seeking to increase the minimum fine for ‘operating a vehicle without proper equipment or of improper construction’ from $25 to $100, as a means of deterring this offence. It is important to note that not all loud motorcycles have been improperly modified.”
The statement points out that Service NL’s highway enforcement officers are teaming up with the RNC to conduct periodic inspections of motorcycles over the summer months with the goal of identifying whether exhaust systems have been improperly modified.
“This activity will inform Service NL’s work in evaluating the current legislation to determine whether other changes need to be made to address this issue.”
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