Revving your engine will soon be a crime punishable by a fine of up to $500 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mayor Martin Chavez (D) proposed adding a blip of the throttle to the city ordinance listing "nuisances" that the city uses as a justification to seize automobiles. The city council is expected to vote on the idea next month.

"It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in exhibition driving in the Downtown Quiet Zone by operating a vehicle in a manner that willfully creates excessive engine noise because of revving the engine to magnify the engine noise," the proposed ordinance states.

The quiet zone is set up in a half-mile square encompassing the core of the downtown area, although a further amendment is expected to allow ticketing anywhere in the city. As written, the proposal allows fines of up to $500, imprisonment and car seizure as penalties. The city says it intends only to charge $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second and $500 for a third.

At first, Chavez will ask police set up traps to ticket motorcyclists before going after other motorists. In 2006, a UK court took a different route to criminalize such conduct. It jailed a man for what the judge called "revving his car in a racist manner."

A copy of the proposed ordinance is available in a 100k PDF file at the source link below.