Give em an inch, and they will certainly take a thousand miles.
Posted on 01/29/2006 6:17:46 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
But when you present fallacies and ignore my points, that's OK. I see.
My job used to take me all over South Central L.A., and you haven't lived until you're stuck at a RR crossing surrounded by boom boom stereo systems. It's not a racial thing, I just happened to work where most of the boomers were blacks, the white kids do it just as loud where I live.
I could not hear my own radio in the car when near one of the aforementioned odious sound systems, and that infringes on MY rights. I am therefore not too worried about theirs. It's been a ticketable offense for awhile, I think, but it persists.
So? Is any artifact that happens to be used in the commission of a misdemeanor automatically forfeit?
If someone's music is too loud, give them a ticket. If they lose in court and don't pay the ticket, then impound their vehicle. Impounding the vehicle first means that even if the people win in court they're still out the towing and bailment fees (which is, of course, probably the goal). As one opposed to punishing people before they're found guilty, I find this abhorrent.
I don't want to take anybody's car away. I just want to nail the car with an RPG. Trouble is, that would make an awful mess for the fire dept to clean up.
Who says it's automatic? For a particular problem that has proven difficult to solve in a more conventional way, there's nothing wrong with doing this. It's not as if it is easy to accidentally get caught when you have to install special equipment to commit the crime in the first place. The folks who have committed no crime yet are constantly under assault by these mobile sound weapons have rights too. What's more abhorrent, the criminal behavior or reasonable measures to end it?
From my point of view, that's exactly what you did. Yes, let's let the reader be the judge, on that we can agree.
Well, I think that's the whole point. But seriesly, while it's a good idea to make these noisemakers illegal, I think there's a big problem if police can just seize private property and not even bother with a trial anymore.
I suspect you are on the right track with your technical arguments, a decibel meter could be used as an objective standard, etc. Of course, the judge would still have to believe the officer's testimony.
But you missed my point. I am quite confident that police will be able to determine who is breaking the law, and who is not.
I am also quite confident that judges will find the guilty and fine them.
My point is that the scofflaws will be fined, be given sixty days to pay, and ignore the fine. Then (perhaps) their driver's license will be suspended, and that will be ignored. This will go on ad infinitum ad nauseum.
Here's my perspective, I post this every so often when the message seems relevant, sort of as a memorial to Mom, as well as to let people know what the justice system is really like.
December 5th, 2001, my mother, Shirley Norkunas, was killed in a car wreck. She was on her way to a Dr.'s appointment. The roads and weather were clear, it was about 9 in the morning, the place was just south of Superior, WI on State Hwy 35. She was driving north toward Superior.
A fellow named Thomas Frankot was heading south that morning, driving on a suspended license. He apparently fell asleep, crossed into my mother's lane, she was killed instantly in the resulting crash.
Thomas Frankot lived. He is essentially judgement proof, with very few assets.
He, after much wrangling, finally pled guilty in September 2002 to driving after suspension and driving left of center.
Previous relevant citations (there are half a dozen or so others). You can find them at the following website-
http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl
DWI
DWI/OAS (Operation After Suspension)
OAS
No Valid License
OAR (Operation after Revocation)
OAR
That was six offenses BEFORE he killed Mom, so you know he was really in trouble this time.
Was he ever.
He was fined $363, license suspended for six months, and given sixty days to pay.
That's not even the funny part.
He has not paid the fine for driving with a suspended license, even though over four years, much less the sixty days have lapsed.
I asked the clerk of courts what happens when the fines aren't paid.
They suspend his license.
Now, that's justice for ya.
A little pain (paying for the tow) is not so bad.
So, while you may be correct, you are only addressing the issue of finding the scofflaw guilty in the first place. My whole issue is what happens afterwards.
And middle aged wannabe HA geezers on Harleys with super loud pipes aren't a heck of a lot better:-)
But saying that a vehicle cannot exceed 60 db at 50 feet is perfectly reasonable.
“The average background noise in a house is about 50 dB(A), while a car driving down a street will be measured at 60 dB(A) at a distance of 300 feet. A “quiet” vacuum cleaner will emanate sound at 70 dB(A), about the same noise level that is attributed to an expressway when standing 100 feet away from it. Nearby trees on a breezy day will measure about 55 to 60 dB(A) on a decibel meter.”
Much of the annoyance is not from the sound level its self, but the time of sound and what is making it. If the music is what I like I do not object. If the music is hip hop I find it irritating. I find the sound of an old Harley Davidson enjoyable but the sound of an old Kawasaki 500 two stroker irritating.
As for the “being inconsiderate” part -
Most people like to think of them selves as being “normal”. Anyone who does not think as they do is therefore “abnormal”. To the person operating a loud sound system in his vehicle it is normal. Any one who does not like it is abnormal ( a nut case). Evidence of this can be seen right here on FR – look at the responses to threads dealing with religion, science or just everyday cultural encounters like loud sound systems.
As I posted earlier, I have learned not to let petty annoyances bother me. Why should my desire for peace and quiet outweigh another person’s desire to listen to loud music?
Sounds good to me and it falls under Disturbing the Peace. Those systems are very intrusive and most persons do not realize how much so. A low frequency tone is near impossible to keep from hearing. Try this one the next time you hear the booming. Place your fingers in your ears tight. You will still hear it. Place your hands over your ears tight you will still hear it. Put on shooters muffs you will still hear it. Why? Because low frequencies penetrate the skull. The skull is part of the Vestibular or hearing system.
They have NO RIGHT for their music to invade my person. The music until out of hearing range is impossible to not hear. To those seeing this as racial white teenagers & early 20's are the worst offenders actually.
You're right about how bad this "music" is and how impossible it is to block low frequencies.
Read post 213. It is about invasion of privacy. The owner of the stereo from hell invading everyones eleses peace. Warning first time. $500 fine second time. Destruction of the stereo {not the car} third time and comminity service again with fine. Sooner or later Bubba is gonna realize $500 is a bit steep just for playing a boom box.
They are a nuisance to all. I know about the sound waves because those systems put me into seizures. They do not have a right to do that.
Fine and sentence them to a full day of listening to classical music while sitting in hard chairs.
Give em an inch, and they will certainly take a thousand miles.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.