Shahed, sirens, and roaring under the windows: Ukraine wants to pass a law on loud vehicle exhausts — and for the residents of Israel, this is all too familiar

In Ukraine, draft law No. 15358 was registered to penalize driving cars and motorcycles that exceed the permissible noise level. For Israel, this topic also sounds very familiar: even during the war, cars and motorcycles with roaring exhausts continue to race on the country’s roads, and citizens increasingly perceive this not as ‘tuning’ but as additional stress and demonstrative disrespect for people.

The document provides for the introduction of strict sanctions against drivers of cars and motorcycles who intentionally modify exhaust systems.

Draft Law No. 15358: What exactly was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada

On June 26, 2026, draft law No. 15358 was registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, proposing to establish liability for operating vehicles that exceed the permissible noise level. Officially, the document is called a draft law on amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and other legislative acts, and its essence is to give the state a tool against cars and motorcycles that create excessive noise on the roads.

This is no longer just a matter of comfort. During the war, such sounds often resemble drones. Citizens and children get scared, veterans may experience PTSD triggers, and air defense and police are distracted from real threats. And at night, it is almost impossible for those living near major streets to sleep with the window open.

Full name (Ukr.) – “Draft Law on Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and Other Legislative Acts on Establishing Liability for Operating Vehicles Exceeding the Permissible Noise Level”.

The card of the draft law indicates that the initiators were a group of People’s Deputies of Ukraine, including Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Maksym Khlapuk, Oleh Bondarenko, Oleksandr Bakumov, Ivan Yunakov, Olha Koval, Anastasia Radina, Olena Vintoniak, Hryhoriy Mamka, Maksym Buzhanskyi, and Maryana Bezuhla. As of June 29, 2026, the document had already been sent for committee review, with the main committee being the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement.

Ukrainian media linked this initiative to cars and motorcycles whose loud straight-through exhaust during the war may resemble the sound of Shahed-type drones. According to Yaroslav Zheleznyak, as cited by the publication, such sounds scare civilians, children, can become triggers for veterans, and also distract air defense and police from real threats.

What fines are proposed and how much is it in shekels

The draft law provides for several levels of liability.

In peacetime, the first violation is proposed to be fined 8,500 hryvnias, and a repeat violation — 17,000 hryvnias. Under martial law, the liability becomes stricter: 17,000 hryvnias for the first violation and 34,000 hryvnias for a repeat violation. In addition, for a repeat violation during the war, it is proposed to impose mandatory deprivation of driving rights for a period of 3 to 6 months.

If these amounts are converted into Israeli shekels approximately, it turns out as follows: 8,500 hryvnias — about 560 shekels, 17,000 hryvnias — about 1,120 shekels, 34,000 hryvnias — about 2,240 shekels. The calculation is made approximately at the rate of about 1 hryvnia = 0.066 shekels.

Separately, the draft law proposes to instruct the relevant authorities to establish clear noise standards, including separate rules for nighttime — from 22:00 to 08:00. This is an important detail because the problem of loud exhaust is especially painful at night when the sound spreads more strongly through residential areas, and people, after alarms, shelling, and heavy news, try to get at least some rest.

Why Israel should understand this topic without lengthy explanations

For Israel, the Ukrainian draft law is not an abstract news from another country.

Here, too, they know well what war, nighttime alarms, sirens, drone reports, missile threats, air defense work, waiting for news from relatives in the army, and nervous tension that accumulates over months are. Therefore, the sharp roar of a motorcycle or car with a modified exhaust is perceived not as ordinary road noise, but as a sound that can make a person flinch.

In Tel Aviv, Haifa, Bat Yam, Ashdod, Netanya, Be’er Sheva, Rishon LeZion, and other cities in Israel, there are also drivers who continue to race on the roads with loud exhausts, especially in the evening and at night. Sometimes these are sports cars, sometimes motorcycles, sometimes ordinary cars after ‘improvements’, but for residents, the result is the same: a sharp roar under the windows, fear in children, anger in adults, and the feeling that someone is turning a residential area into a personal racetrack.

During the war, this is much more irritating than in ordinary life.

If a person has just experienced a siren, if a family is trying to put a child to bed after a stressful day, if a reservist has returned home on a short leave, if elderly people and immigrants live in constant tension, then a loud exhaust under the windows is perceived not as ‘love for cars’, but as rudeness. Citizens in Israel are also furious about this because at such a moment the driver demonstrates not style, but complete indifference to the state of those around them.

The Ukrainian logic here is very understandable: if the sound of a vehicle during the war can resemble the sound of a threat, it cannot be considered only as a matter of comfort. It is already a matter of public peace, psychological safety, and respect for people who live in a state of constant mobilization.

A loud exhaust is not freedom if it scares an entire neighborhood

In peacetime, the dispute over a loud exhaust is often reduced to a domestic conflict: someone likes the sound of the engine, someone is bothered by the noise. But during the war, this dispute changes its meaning. A city that lives with sirens and news of rockets is not obliged to endure artificially amplified roars under the windows just because someone wants to attract attention.

Israel should take a close look at the Ukrainian example.

It is not necessary to copy the Ukrainian model one-to-one, but the principle itself seems fair: in wartime, the responsibility for intentionally loud exhaust should be higher, especially at night, in residential areas, near hospitals, schools, hotels with evacuated families, and neighborhoods where elderly people, military families, and people after attacks live.

Practically, this could mean separate nighttime fines, mandatory technical inspection after a violation, a requirement to return the exhaust system to normal condition, enhanced work by police and municipal inspectors, and more understandable rules for drivers. If a car or motorcycle sounds so that people are scared and take it as a threat, it is no longer ‘car culture’, but a violation of public order.

For Israel, this is especially important because the country is not living in an ordinary noisy season, but in a prolonged military reality. There are too many people here who already sleep poorly, flinch at sudden sounds, wait for messages from loved ones, and keep their phones nearby even at night. Adding artificial engine roars to this means not understanding the society you live in.

NAnews —Israel News believes that the Ukrainian draft law No. 15358 is important not only as an internal Ukrainian initiative. It shows a broader principle: war changes attitudes even towards things that previously seemed domestic. Where the sound can resemble a drone, siren, or threat, the state has the right to demand silence, and citizens — to demand respect.

In Ukraine, this issue has already been brought to the level of a draft law. In Israel, it should also be taken seriously because a loud exhaust during the war is not just road noise. It is a test of responsibility, empathy, and the ability to understand that the freedom of one driver ends where the fear of an entire neighborhood begins.

And in Israel?

In Israel, a loud exhaust is formally no longer outside the law: traffic rules require a proper exhaust system, the police can remove a noisy car or motorcycle from the road, and the law on preventing disturbances prohibits strong and unreasonable noise.

In Israel, penalties for loud exhaust are already provided, but they appear significantly softer than the Ukrainian model.

For strong noise from a vehicle, fines ranged from 250 to 500 shekels, and under the promoted increase — up to 500 shekels for the first violation and up to 1,000 shekels for a repeat violation. Separately, for the absence of a muffler or noise prevention device, the fine was supposed to increase to 1,000 shekels, and for a corporate vehicle — up to 2,000 shekels.

But unlike the Ukrainian draft law, the Israeli system does not yet make a separate emphasis on wartime, citizens’ fear, sirens, drones, and the psychological effect of a loud exhaust.

In addition to the fine, the police in Israel can apply a more painful measure — a ban on the operation of the vehicle if the exhaust system is faulty, modified, or creates unreasonable noise. That is, the car or motorcycle can be effectively removed from the road until the violation is corrected.

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