FeedBoomcar ordinance would have failed if it came for a vote
March 31, 2006 in Local Tags: boomcar, noise pollution
The word I hear is that the proposed noise ordinance that would have let Peoria Police seize cars that made too much noise would have been shot down by a 8-3 vote had it come up for a vote at last Tuesday’s council meeting.
Among the concerns:
* Some council members believe taking people’s cars was too drastic a solution, at least for a first offense.
* Others thought it would unfairly affect minorities. One council member was prepared to show statistics showing black drivers are more likely to be pulled over by police than white drivers.
* There are council members who do think city staffers need to do more to prosecute those who are ticketed under the present rules. They worry that word has gotten out that these fines can be ignored.
* Certain neighborhood activists who harshly criticized the council for taking the item off the agenda are strongly at risk of burning bridges with those inclined to be their allies, especially since differing the vote allowed for the possibility of a reworked ordinance.
My two cents: The city needs a way to target drivers who install sound systems designed to create noise pollution and not those who simply have their stereos turned up too loud.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:39 pm
The point is the level of the sound emanating from a vehicle, not the quality of the installation or maker of the equipment. Loud noise made by a rusty muffler is just as offesive as a 5000 dollar stereo. The same 5000 dollar stereo played at low levels of output is not a nuisance.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:42 pm
When are they going to start ticketing motorcycles without mufflers?! Motorcycles are a far greater noise nuisance than boomcars.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:50 pm
Factory installed stereos are quite capable of causing similiar results. I own one. I also know where the volume button is. It is behavioral. No one is being targeted with a crackdown because of race, it is a behavioral issue. One’s race does not cause anyone ever at anytime to be rude or inconsiderate or disrespectful, poor choices and a lack of awareness does and that occurs across race, gender, economic status, sexual preference, age etc.
If a troop of martians drive through town in their spaceship blasting martian tunes are they targeted because they are not from earth, or perhaps they have green skin? It’s the noise. It’s the sleep disturbance, it’s the teeth rattling in our heads. It is night after night, day after day city block after city block. 11:40pm I am in the rear of the house, windows closed, air purifer on, storm windows down, in the office, I can hear and feel music thumping down the street vibrating my desk and chair. Many others along here are trying to sleep. I don’t know anything about the driver other than the driver has chosen to blast his music. We need relief. Please come up with an effective solution that has a signifcant impact. I drove to work on Wednesday down main street during a busy time. There was only the hum of cars, no thumping at all. It was very peaceful. I could hear and enjoy my own music or no music at all. The ride home was much the same way until I got close to home. It would be nice to have the choice of peace and quiet within my humble abode.
April 1st, 2006 at 12:14 am
Neighborhood leader: “Factory installed stereos are quite capable of causing similiar results. I own one.”
Not really. Have you seen the inside of one of these “booncars?” The have special steroes designed to send the bass out into the community. They a SPECIFICALLY designed to cause your home’s windows to vibrate.
April 1st, 2006 at 7:43 am
I am aware that “boom cars” as you have mentioned are designed for it. I don’t dispute it, just want awareness that these cars are not the exclusive source of very loud music.
April 1st, 2006 at 7:45 am
Which ever way they are installed, it would be nice if people were considerate/respectful enough to turn them down. There is absolutely no reason to hear and feel the boom…boom…boom at hours after 10:00 pm. Seems the ticketing alone has not done any good so you go to the next step. This ordiance is harsh, but possibly after a few towings, people will know just how serious this is. Just think of what that sound is doing to the hearing status if the individuals in that vehice as years go by and I believe that somewhere I heard or read that it also does something to your heart and that is not just for the people that are in the vehicle.
When you are in that vehicle, you can’t hear anyone talking to you; hell, you can’t even hear yourself think. Maybe that’s the purpose.
Oddly enough, I was able to have my window open last night…all night, feel the cool night breeze come in, and did not hear one loud music vehicle.???? Woke up to the birds singing.
Motorcycles should be excempt. they don’t sit in front of a home for an hour, with no one in it, except the loud music machine. They generally just buzz by and are gone. And it’s only one or two cycles not a string of booming boxes.
And this is NOT a race issue..good Lord. We don’t know at that time of night who is doing the booming. I don’t look unless they have been out front for a period of time. This could be anyone. Then how do you know who it is since they are not in the vehicle.
April 1st, 2006 at 11:29 am
“Motorcycles should be excempt. they don’t sit in front of a home for an hour, with no one in it, except the loud music machine. They generally just buzz by and are gone. And it’s only one or two cycles not a string of booming boxes.”
Like hell they should be exempt. Once summer hits we can expect a ‘parade’ of motorcycles driving endlessly throughout the neighborhoods of the west bluff. I am not talking about those motorcycle ‘conventions’ that hit a couple weekends a year. I am talking about locals who like to ride around being as loud as they can be. The only difference is the motorcycles are far louder and more annoying. Do the motorcyclists park outside their homes revving their cycles? You bet they do. They are ‘tuning’ them. Yeah and the boom cars are ‘tuning’ too. A couple motorcycles would put a fleet of boomcars to shame on the decibal meter.
April 1st, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Let’s get REAL folks! Generally these types of “sound systems” are nothing more than a “public address” function used, in most cases, by “Drug Dealers” to announce that the “Merchandise has arrived. I would suggest that the Peoria PD stop ALL such vehicles, search them for contraband, and if none is found, tell them to reinstall the rubber seal for the truck lid to keep it from “rattling” when they crank their obnoxiously lewd music. End of story!
April 2nd, 2006 at 10:23 am
I knew a couple guys back in college who made boomcars for fun. They weren’t dealing drugs but… they had to hold down some pretty high paying jobs in the summer and during to feed their hobby. Building one of these boomcars is going to set you back a good five grand or more…. a year, because they are always updating. They loved the attention, which surprisingly worked well on the ladies. The five grand is before you go tricking up your car with other stuff.
The rattling…. is a sign of a poor installation. You can get plenty of boom without the rattle. Those two guys from college, went to great lengths to supress the rattles. So if you hear rattling… point, laugh, and call them noobs.
Now… as to drugs n these cars… yeah there probably is a connection. Even at an $8/hour job, you are at most gonna be pulling $16,000 a year. Just look at some of these guys… and well.. makes you wonder. Now those two college guys looked pretty scruffy too… very blue collar looking but they had jobs that paid well above eight an hour.
April 25th, 2006 at 8:27 am
I had to weigh in on this as I live in Fort Wayne, and have to listen to these audio-terrorists DAILY (and nightly).
I have NO problem whatsoever with ANYONE of ANY ethnicity listening to whatever the hell music (?) they want to….AS LONG as I don’t have to hear it coming from THREE blocks away. These people have to be made to realize that THEIR RIGHTS END where MINE BEGIN. And vice versa.
Where I happen to live, we have the obligatory NEW vehicles with the spinners and the kickers in the trunk or wherever they can cram them in. We also have the “classic” (less) cars…the 1980s Caddys, Cutlass Supremes, Bonnevilles, etc. These are favored thanks to the cavernous trunks they have. These “intards” think that bigger is better…screw clarity OR quality of sound….and the (above mentioned) rattling is SO evident!
Our police department can do little unless THEY catch them. I was told that even a video wouldn’t be “sufficient” to get one fo these morons off the streets. I STILL find that hard to believe. It seems that SO many of these noise ordinances are, by definition mostly UNENFORCEABLE.
It’s interesting to note that NYC and Chi-Town have BOTH enacted laws that allow for the CONFISCATION of the vehicle and/or the stereo system…now that’s a law I can live with. And it’s a shame the EPA closed their “noise” division back in the late 70’s, thanks to underfunding.
Sadly, this IS a behavioral problem, so anyone that claims these people are “just unaware” about what they are doing is just blowing smoke up everyone’s a$$! Mostly, this is a display of machismo, much akin to a peacock spreading his tail plumage (but a LOT noisier). It’s done as a form of intimidation. It’s done to illicit fear in the rest of the public. Think of it as an audio “thumb to the nose” against peace and quiet.
Loud noise (from whatever source) is a real cause for concern….it can lead to severe physiological consequences such as migraines, stress and anxiety, depression, not to mention the obvious loss of hearing. It can also lead to heart problems.
It’s sad that people have to feel the need to “share” their musical (?) choices with a 3 block radius of the populace at any given time. I love coffee, but I’d hate to see what happened if I walked down the street, pouring it down the throat of EVERY person I happened upon,just “because I could”.
That “just ain’t right”, people. Something needs to happen to get this kind of noise (as well as mufflers, low flying jets, lawn mowers, etc.) OFF the streets, before we wind up with an entire generation not only desensitized to this bane, but also a generation of (young) hearing-impared citizens.
Fair IS fair.
S.C.
April 25th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
I just want to say not everyone who has subwoofers in their car is not respectful. I also want to say that anyone that knows anything or cares at all doesnt make their system to harm people or thier houses. Point is I have subwoofer, mobile audio is my hobby and soon to be career. Stupid people have been careless and have given everyone a bad rep.
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:39 am
I agree that the noise level of so called “Boomcars” is somewhat out of control. I do have a aftermarket stereo in my vehicle and i understand that many teenagers and others play the music at innapropriate times. I can understand someone getting mad for someone that plays it in town at 11 o’clock at night. I think they should do something about the loud motorcycles before the loud stereos. Its a great hobby to get into its what some people like, why take away that privalage of our free rights.