Comment by globular-toast
1 year ago
I'm starting to think about a similar thing for noise. The noise of motor vehicles seems to be out of control and I am sure it is causing misery for the majority of the population who have to live near roads. I reckon a single loud motorcycle could disturb tens of thousands of people, potentially waking or startling them, raising blood pressure etc. in a single 10 minute trip. Unfortunately I think awareness of this problem is even worse than speed.
I think main problem is that half of adult men population is actually into those noisy/auto-moto sports. Even if they don't own one, they like and admire this silently and believe it's harmless nuisance. Add to it few friends that already do it ... and they're cool...
I live in EU city center. Stupid noisy speeders are bane of my existence. Both noise and safety (for biker and pedestrian) ... In some circles even raising this topic makes you whining leftist crybaby.
I used to live in a neighborhood about a quarter mile from a highway, nearly perfectly flat land, speed limit I believe was 45 or 55.
Most days the road noise itself was no big deal, if the wind blew it was gone, if you listened for it you could hear a whooshing/droning in the distance.
But all it took was one loud motorcycle or old car/truck to really ruin your peace for a solid 3 to 5 minutes, being able to hear it on approach, and it went by, and exit. And it wasn't that rare to get them back to back, seeing as it's a 4 lane highway with a decent flow of traffic.
It wasn't really until then I realized how a single vehicle could cause so much annoyance for so many people.
> I reckon a single loud motorcycle could disturb tens of thousands of people, potentially waking or startling them, raising blood pressure etc. in a single 10 minute trip.
What absolutely grinds my gears is when a loud motorcycle or sports car drives through my residential neighborhood right after patiently rocking my baby to sleep.
Interestingly, as a motorcycle and sports car owner myself, I never thought about that aspect for even a second until I became a dad—I drive much more gently nowadays (especially in residential neighborhoods)!
> Interestingly, as a motorcycle and sports car owner myself, I never thought about that aspect for even a second
Right, because the car's cabin and motorcycle helmet protect the driver/rider from it. The noise they create are specifically designed to be heard by everyone but the operator. It's like me sitting in my back garden wearing earplugs, while blasting music out the front into the street.