Bangalore traffic police use a Road roller to crush loud Royal Enfield exhausts; Get trolled

Over the past few months, the traffic police of Bangalore have been cracking down on loud exhausts, especially the ones found on Royal Enfields. Now, they’ve taken things to a whole new-level. This picture explains it all.

As you can see in the picture above, that’s a road-roller running over a bunch of seized exhausts, mostly from Royal Enfield motorcycles. Bangalore Traffic Police’s official Facebook page disseminated this widely shared image, in a bid to deter offenders. And they promptly got trolled for it.

While some Facebook users questioned the cops for destroying the ‘already pothole-ridden roads’ of Bangalore, others asked them not to create even more traffic jams in the garden city with such antics. And one Facebook user even asked the cops as to why such exhausts continue to be sold in the market.

Over the past few weeks, traffic cops in Bangalore have been stopping Royal Enfield riders with loud exhausts, and removing the exhausts on the spot. Apart from fining the owners, cops have even gone to the extent of seizing Royal Enfield motorcycles that had loud exhausts.

The latest action is likely to send out a strong message to all those riding Royal Enfields fitted with loud exhausts. However, it’s unclear as to how the cops in Bangalore decide that an exhaust is too-loud to be allowed on a motorcycle.

While some owners of Royal Enfields with loud exhausts argue that decibel meters aren’t being used to determine if an aftermarket exhaust loud enough to be illegal, they must remember that any modification without the necessary RTO endorsement on the registration certificate (RC) will be deemed illegal by traffic police. So, traffic cops are well within their rights to seize exhausts, and fine motorcyclists who have fitted aftermarket exhausts.

Coming to the argument that cops need to first act against dealers who sell after-market exhausts, it’s untenable because of two reasons. 1. The dealer selling the exhaust is not liable for where it is used. 2. Such after-market exhausts are perfectly legal on private roads. This is the reason why cops cannot act on dealers selling after-market exhausts. Why, even Royal Enfield, through the company-owned brand stores, sells aftermarket exhausts. However, the company clearly mentions that such exhausts are meant for ‘off-road’ use, limiting its liability.