Driver facing charges after noisy muffler attracts attention of Barrie police

If you don't want to bring attention to yourself, you might want to do avoid driving with a noisy muffler.

The noise from a muffler caught the attention of a Barrie police officer around 9:45 Saturday morning as the vehicle was northbound on Essa Road.

"When the officer pulled over the vehicle in question, it was quickly determined that the mufflers were not original equipment and were improper," police said in a news release.

As the investigation proceeded, police said the driver was unable to produce a valid permit for the vehicle he was operating as it had expired 14 months ago. Then there was the matter of his driver's licence, which he did not have, and police said it had been suspended last year.

Charges were laid for both offences, and the 24-year-old Barrie man was also charged with have an improper muffler.

"Also found in the vehicle was a firearm, that when closely examined was determined to be an airsoft type product," police added.

The accused has a court date in August.

"A number of lessons can be learned from this proactive traffic stop," police said.

• mufflers that have been modified and are noisy will always catch the attention of those around them, especially the police.
• with recent changes to licence plate validation, licence plates will automatically renew 90-days before their expiration date if you drive a passenger vehicle, light commercial vehicle under 3,000 kg, motorcycle, moped and you have valid insurance and no outstanding fines or tolls.
• it is never advisable to travel with a replica or airsoft pistol as these will be treated by police as real, until they are confirmed otherwise.