A petition to muffle loud vehicles in Sarnia may have backfired.
Car enthusiast Alicia Blythe said complaints about illegally modified vehicles violating the city's noise bylaw are negatively impacting the car community. In response, she has started an opposing petition.
"I just wanted to put a stop to it. I wanted people to open their eyes and realize what it's doing to our community," said Blythe. "We all love cars, we all love doing things to our cars and exploring different opportunities. We just want to have fun and show off what we have. People put time and years into making things better for their vehicles."
Blythe said car enthusiasts aren't looking to annoy anyone, and that there are many people who enjoy the sounds of cars and appreciate the different modifications done to them.
"You hear an eight-cylinder, and if it has a nice exhaust, if it's loud, you just get happy," she said. "I grew up with my father being a mechanic, so I've really learned a lot about different vehicles and how they're built. I know there are a lot of people out there like me who really want to put time into these vehicles and make them our own, make them more unique."
Blythe's "support our local car enthusiasts" petition has received over 1,000 signatures. The petition entitled "noise-bylaw not enforced by police in regards to illegally modified mufflers" has received over 850 signatures.