Quebec Riding - Some Legal Notes

[NeufUnSix]

Recently there has been a shift in police policy towards the modification of street vehicles; up until this year they were more or less lenient with "illegal" (as in modifying lights, DOT mandated items, and exhausts) aftermarket parts, never really bothering to ticket for mods to vehicles. Now this has changed, and Quebec riders (especially riders on the island of Montreal) should be forewarned about the new zero-tolerance policy.

The main points of contention on motorcycles are aftermarket exhausts and turnsignals. According to the law, ANY exhaust that is not 100% factory stock is liable to be ticketed. The fine for having a "modified" or non standard exhaust is 154$. Thus, according to the law, even baffled or homologated aftermarket pipes are still illegal even if they meet sound and emissions mandates and are stamped road legal. The standard test for legality is to check for baffles visually, then pass a coathanger through the exhaust and measure the distance it penetrates in relation to the length of the canister, and then to check for DOT / Federal stampings on the body of the exhaust which declare it road legal and meeting Canadian regulations. According to the officer who ticketed my bike, if the coathanger passes through the canister the exhaust is illegal, regardless of the stamping or the presence of internal baffles - according to his logic, a single hole big enough to let a coathanger through made the pipes illegal. While this method is flawed (some legal exhaust systems can have a coathanger passed through them), it is unfortunately the only method recognized in court for determining the presence of proper internal baffling.

Lighting, specifically turnsignals, is the next thing to worry about. Here again, not stock is not legal. There are specific mandates for the size, distance apart, placement and lens colour of turnsignals on motorcycles and any modification is liable to get a 154$ ticket. On cars and on bikes the easiest way to be ticketed seems to be having signals with incorrectly coloured lenses - IE clear lenses with amber bulbs, or smoke coloured lenses. Again, some stock setups are liable for ticketing.

The level of enforcement has gone up markedly this year around the island of Montreal, and bikes as well as cars have been the victims of this new level of trolling for tickets. Beware of police traps checking for modifications and be prepared to face the consequence if your bike is modified. You can fight a ticket if you provide proof of the legality of your parts - receipts or paperwork stating homologation being the best.

Next up is the recent change in speeding laws in the province of Quebec. As of last month, anyone caught driving 50 km/h or more above the posted speed limit will immediately have their license suspended for one week and their vehicle towed. Subsequent infractions will yield longer suspensions - second time is 14 days, third time is 30 days, etc. This may sound logical enough, the speed limits have always been in place and enforced so this isn't really anything new. But be warned that the police have been setting up traps to catch unwary Mr. and Mrs. Average on busy roads where the flow of traffic regularly exceeds 50 kmh over the limit. Specifically, the Decarie expressway (Route 15, posted limit 70 kmh, usual flow 120-130 kmh) and the inner-city freeways (40, 20, 720, 13). They have no mercy for drivers simply following the flow of traffic - if you are speeding, they will ticket you or suspend your license, zero tolerance. Keep this in mind when riding on the island, pay attention to the posted limits and be aware of common speed trap locations. 

It's a sorry state of things when the police and the government are doing their best to victimize recreational drivers, but we have to remain solidarious in the face of this persecution and fight for our collective rights as motorists. Contest tickets, protest registration hikes, and above all be courteous and respectful riders - nothing will piss off the anti-biking community more than a biker who is calm, level headed and respectful of the law, exactly what they don't want the public to see.

Happy riding

JC

[PizzaMonster]

Ummmm....."thanks" for the bad news JC.  They passed a similar impound law here in Ontario last year.

I thought maybe I could get some temporary relief by riding 30 minutes down the road into Quebec and then letting it hang out on your side of the line.  Guess that's just going to mean I get towed to an impound lot farther from home  .

Are they also hassling those with baffle-equipped Termis? 

[NeufUnSix]

If it isn't stock, it's illegal. That's what the law states, and that's how they are enforcing it. People are being ticketed for OEM replacement exhausts (Mr. Muffler stuff) and I've heard of at least one case where a fellow got a ticket because he had a chrome tip on a stock muffler. A lot of cars are getting ticketed for lighting too, anything with clear turnsignal lenses or smoked brakelights (which means a lot of stock setups like the Acura EL, the SRT Dodges, etc)