Question 1: I have noticed that a lot of cars have expired tabs. Is that not being enforced anymore? What is the current fine for not having current tabs displayed?
Question 2: Why are the police not enforcing a muffler regulation? I hear muffler-free cars all days sounding off; have things changed?
Answer: What do expired tabs and loud exhausts have in common? It sounds like the setup for a joke, doesn’t it? I wish I had a good punchline for you. While I’m thinking of one, here’s a summary of the law for both violations:
Expired tabs: “Failure to renew an expired registration before operating a vehicle on the public highways of this state is a traffic infraction.” If you were to get a ticket for expired tabs, you’d be looking at a $136 fine for tabs expired less than two months, or $228 if they’ve been expired longer.
Mufflers: Every vehicle shall be equipped with a muffler in good working order, and no person shall modify the exhaust system in a manner that will increase the noise above that emitted by the muffler originally installed on the vehicle.
I haven’t thought of a punchline yet, but here are two things they have in common: they both are violations of traffic law, and neither are factors in traffic crashes. I’m not suggesting that complying with these laws isn’t important; I want our roads, sidewalks and bike lanes funded, and I don’t want loud mufflers disturbing my neighborhood. But you asked a traffic safety guy, and I wouldn’t be honest if I said that all laws have equal weight and deserve similar levels of enforcement.
As to wondering if these laws aren’t being enforced, I believe that they are, but maybe not as frequently as you’re hoping for.
I recently had a conversation with a deputy about traffic enforcement, and he commented that while he was more than willing to take action on speeders and distracted drivers, he didn’t get too interested in enforcing expired tabs until they were past their expiration date by at least several months. Is that slacking on the job? Not at all. It’s prioritizing your work.
Here’s what I mean by that: The top high-risk behaviors that lead to fatal crashes are impairment, speeding, distraction and lack of seatbelt use. The road users most at risk are young drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians and bike riders. When law enforcement agencies look at the data, it’s pretty clear which behaviors need enforcement attention and which road users are most vulnerable. Across the state, police regularly conduct high visibility emphasis patrols focusing on these high risk behaviors. As far as I know, we’ve never had an emphasis patrol for expired tabs or loud
mufflers.
I know that some officers make it their goal to get an impaired driver off the road before the end of their shift. Some focus on speed enforcement or distracted driving in high-crash areas. And while they’re doing this, they encounter drivers with expired tabs, loud mufflers or other traffic violations that they weren’t out looking for but now have the opportunity to enforce, either with a ticket or some driver education, as may be appropriate.
Essentially, good traffic enforcement involves looking at the data and going where it leads. The focus, then, is on high-risk driving behaviors and the small percentage of drivers that cause a disproportionate number of crashes. And what do expired tabs and loud mufflers have in common? They’re both loud, except for the tabs. Hey, I’m a traffic nerd, not a comedian. It’s the best I could do.
Doug Dahl is a manager with the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, Region 11 and publishes TheWiseDrive.com.
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