Biker fury at noise ban

CANADA // Laws to limit the noise emitted from motorcycles have provoked angry responses from some Canadian bikers. Following Edmonton's decision to introduce a bylaw allowing police to use devices to measure bikes' sound levels, other municipalities are now looking at doing likewise. Most bikes are not allowed to exceed 92 decibels while idling. Depending on the number of cylinders they have, that could be raised to 100 decibels. But the decision has not gone down well with some bikers, including Kelvin Ooms, a maintenance supervisor for a food distribution company in Saskatoon. Ooms believes loud bikes can save lives, as after a collision drivers often admit to not hearing motorcycles. When the Saskatoon city councillor Bob Pringle suggested a possible crackdown on noisy bikes, he claims he was threatened. "Bikers are very angry," he reportedly told The Globe and Mail newspaper. "They feel like I'm targeting them unfairly and they need this extra noise for safety reasons. There was also a threat about, 'I would love to meet you in a back lane and you wouldn't come out'."