Starting Aug. 1, Bismarck police are hoping to help some people sleep easier.

That's the date patrol officers in the Bismarck Police Department will be instructed to put special emphasis on enforcing ordinances and laws dealing with loud muffler and exhaust noises.

Lt. Fred Wooten, who heads up the department's patrol division, said the department has received numerous complaints about loud engine noises. He said one man recently called who said he sleeps with his windows open and loud motorcycles are keeping him awake at night.

"These complaints increase during the warmer months, when residents spend more time outside and when they are more likely to sleep with the windows open," a news release from the police department said.

By Bismarck city ordinance, vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds must have a noise level while moving of 80 decibels or less when measured at 25 feet away, and vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds must be 88 decibels or less.

Street motorcycles manufactured after 1986 also have a limit of 80 decibels, as established by the North Dakota Century Code and the Environmental Protection Agency. Wooten said street-legal motorcycles come from the factory in compliance with that law.

Wooten said normal street noise is around 65 decibels.

Every squad car will be equipped now with sound meters `to enforce the ordinances, he said. The department has had the meters previously, but they weren't in every car, he said.

"Now, they'll just be more available," Wooten said. "It's not like we don't do it now - it just hasn't been a focus."

The penalty for loud mufflers and exhaust systems is a $40 fine and two points assessed against a person's license.

Wooten said people can come to the police department to have a vehicle's noise levels measured to find out if they are in compliance with the law. If a vehicle fails, the owner will be given 20 days to get the vehicle in compliance.

The department is hoping people will bring their vehicles into compliance voluntarily.

"It's a health issue, and it's a quality of life issue," Wooten said.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)