Varoom! Council considers ordinance to throttle motorcycle noise

Northwest Austin residents told city officials this week that the noise of revving motorcycles racing around RM 2222 has become unbearable.

More than a dozen neighbors showed up at the Austin Public Safety Committee meeting Monday to support a proposed ordinance to make it easier for police to issue tickets to motorcyclists disturbing neighbors. Some residents also expressed concerns that speeding motorcyclists endanger public safety.

According to Police Chief Lisa Davis and Commander Craig Smith, the new ordinance is expected to come before Council on March 26. Committee members led by District 3 Council Member José Velásquez heard how the noise started about four years ago and has gotten progressively worse.

Northwest Hills resident Lauren Earthman told the committee that as the sounds of accelerating, high-speed motorcycles became more frequent and louder in recent years, she has been forced to flee the city. Earthman said that she is familiar with noise, having raised three children. But this repetitive, high-pitched noise is different.

“We wanted a more peaceful, quiet neighborhood in the hills of Austin,” she said. “But four years ago, the noise from 2222 slowly began to increase, specifically the sound of revving and high-speed acceleration of motorcycles.”

Earthman said that noise can cause such health issues as elevated cortisol levels and disturbed sleep. She urged the council to approve a noise ordinance to allow her to spend more time at home in Austin.

Earthman’s neighbors shot a video clip of the racing motorcycles that KXAN aired in 2024. After showing a video of motorcycles revving their engines along 2222, Shepherd Mountain Neighborhood Association President Marisa Lipscher told the committee, “that was our lovely scenic Austin Hill Country neighborhood.”

Lipscher said she started working on the issue five years ago with former District 10 Council Member Alison Alter. Successor Marc Duchen now sits on the committee and backs the ordinance.

Thanking residents “who have been suffering under the status quo for five years or more,” Duchen said the area has become increasingly well known “as a place to do the kind of racing and activities that are generating a lot of the noise and safety complaints.” Duchen and Velásquez confirmed that the committee would vote on sending the measure to the council at its next meeting in early March.

Lisa Capps told the committee that her neighborhood has been converted into “a practice track for motorcycle racing.” Capps said that about 800 people have signed a petition calling for more protections from this noise.

Neighbor Sheryl Brown said the motorcyclists plan their meet ups in advance. “Speed is as much of an issue as noise,” she said, noting that motorcyclists regularly race far beyond the speed limit and run red lights.

Former University of Texas football star Cedric Benson died in a high-speed motorcycle accident on 2222 in 2019, along with passenger Aamna Najam. He was 36.

Commander Smith testified that APD, Travis County Precinct 2 constables, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of Public Safety have put in considerable overtime to deal with motorcycle noise and speeding problems.

Captain Davis told the committee that she expects to put a squad of motorcycle officers on the road soon after current cadets graduate. The department disbanded its motorcycle unit in 2021 because of staff shortages.

Smith explained that he worked with the law department to craft a proposed Class C misdemeanor that’s like a speeding ticket. The proposed new city code provision would create an offense to allow officers to cite motorists for “unreasonable noise.”

If the new ordinance passes, APD will spend time explaining the new rules to people, Smith said, before initiating enforcement patrols.

Jo Clifton began her career at the El Paso Times and the Austin American-Statesman. A UT Law graduate, she later owned and wrote for In Fact Daily and continued writing for its successor, the Austin Monitor.