Vehicles With Illegal Exhausts 2018 to 2023

Publication Number: 1526  

FOI Number: 18619

 

Disclosure:  

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties on public authorities:      

Unless exemptions apply, the first duty (at Section 1(1)(a)) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty (at Section 1(1)(b)) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.      

However, where exemptions are relied upon (Section 17 of FOIA), there is a requirement to provide the applicant with an explanation either:   

1. a) stating the fact   
2. b) detailing the exemption(s) in question and  
3. c) why the exemption applies (if not apparent).  

     

Information Request   

I am currently researching the police response to illegal exhausts on vehicles, that is to say ones that have been modified to be louder than their original manufacture and thus breaching the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 s 54(2).

Clearly there are two potential scenarios where the register keeper is known and unknown when the VRM is supplied.

1. I would appreciate just a brief explanation as to what action the police would take if a member of the public called 101 with the VRM, reporting it for an illegal exhaust.
2. Does your Chief Constable agree that such illegal exhausts may frighten horses putting lives and property at risk?

 

FOI Duty  

First Duty  – Essex Police does not hold information relating to all your request

Second Duty  – not applicable

Fact  – The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities. Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities and members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities. Recorded information includes printed documents, computer files, letters, emails, photographs, and sound or video recordings.  

Refusal – Section 17(1)  –  Exemption –  Section 8 

Reasoning – The FOIA gives rights of public access to information held by public authorities, however, in order for the request to be valid under Section 8 a request must:   

• Be in writing   
• Include the requesters name and address for correspondence  
• Describe the information being requested.   

In respect of Question 2, you have not requested any recorded information held by Essex Police such as Policies or Procedures. The question is a request for an opinion.

Therefore, and in accordance with Section 17(1) of the Act, this communication must act as a refusal notice to provide all of the information that could be interpreted as being captured by your request.   

 

In an effort to assist and Outside of the Act, Essex Police can report as follows:

The following information on the numbers of Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIPs) issued regarding offences related to excessive vehicle noise between 2018 and 2023 has been provided in a previous FOI request and may be of interest:

Caveat: The following data is correct as at 24 May 2023

 

Number of NIPs issued by offence code – 01 May 2018 to 01 May 2023

Offence Code / Description	Number of NIPs Issued
RC86068 Use a Motor Vehicle on a Road with [Exhaust System / Silencer] Altered to Increase the Noise Made	87
RC86092 Use a Motor Vehicle on a Road in a Manner as to Cause Excessive Noise	21
RC86093 Drive a Vehicle on a Road and Fail to Stop the Engine When Stationary for the Prevention of [Noise / Exhaust Emissions]	1
Grand Total	109

 

Every effort is made to ensure that the data provided by Essex Police is accurate and complete. However, Essex Police systems are designed primarily for the management of individual cases and not for the purposes of providing data to answer specific FOI enquiries.  Please note although data can be extracted from a number of sources via database queries, the results may be subject to inaccuracies. Care should be taken to understand our return when considering the interpretation or further use of the data. 

Also in relation to Question 1, information on our policies and procedures in relation to responding to reported crimes and incidents is available via our publication scheme:

H0600 Policy - Road Related Investigations | Essex Police

B0600 Policy - Investigation of Crime | Essex Police

D0503 Procedure - Responding to Incidents | Essex Police

Likewise the following articles containing information on recorded vehicle and driving related offences may also be of interest:

Driving | Essex Police