KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Vroom-vrooming your noisy car, truck or motorcycle in downtown Knoxville could earn you a ticket from the Knoxville Police Department.
KPD said Monday its officers ticketed or warned more than 30 drivers either on Gay Street or in the Cumberland Avenue area Friday and Saturday.
Downtown residents have complained for several years now about obnoxiously loud drivers intentionally gunning their engines while passing through downtown streets. Often the drivers come from outside the city to cruise the center city.
On Friday, officers from KPD's Central District targeted noise ordinance violators in the Gay Street area.
Police wrote six tickets including four for noise ordinance violations and five warning citations -- all for noise ordinance violations, according to KPD.
On Saturday, police returned to focus on downtown and also expand to the Strip area near the University of Tennessee.
They wrote 11 citations and 12 warning citations.
"That effort also resulted in one misdemeanor citation and one arrest that was not related to noise ordinance violations," a note by KPD reads.
Last year, in a pilot project, the city installed a noise camera activated when nearby noise reached a decibel level above 86.
Data showed the noisiest times of the day were about 8 p.m. Saturdays and about 2 a.m. Sundays.
