Posted on 07/12/2005 7:11:41 PM PDT by Crackingham
It's high summer on Miami's world-famous South Beach, and the sounds of the season are pumping from the open windows of cars cruising past the cafes and bars of Ocean Drive. Along with perfectly toned roller skaters and attractive young Latinas, rap music that blares from car stereos and rattles windows has become a hallmark of one of America's trendiest strips. But now, a new state law is turning down the volume on Florida's notorious "boom cars." Any driver who plays music loud enough to be heard by a police officer standing 25 feet away is at risk of receiving a $70 ticket. Previously the measurement was 100 feet.
"This is long overdue," says Douglas Fox of the Florida chapter of Noise Free America (NFA), an organization that has pledged itself to a war on what it calls audio terrorism. "There's been a real problem with amplified speakers for the last 20 years and with cars driving around with noise levels that are just frightening and a hazard to health."
Florida's new law is part of a significant trend to cut noise nationwide. The boom car has been a common target of legislation, and cities and counties in many states, including California, Georgia, Massachusetts, and New York, have introduced measures seeking to restrict the decibels. Chicago and New York City officers have the authority to impound cars, and drivers whose music can be heard from 50 feet in Papillion, Neb., face jail time. Florida, however, has long been near the top of NFA's noise pollution list, and its cities are regular recipients of the group's monthly "noisy dozen" award. One such award was made in November after a St. Petersburg woman filed a high-profile lawsuit against a teenage neighbor claiming that the constant booming of the stereo in his Jeep robbed her of the right to peaceful enjoyment of her home. The case was settled out of court when the teen agreed to sell his stereo and make a public apology. He also sold the Jeep.
"Boom cars are part of the culture in Florida," says Ted Rueter, executive director of NFA. "Everyone has to be cool. The emphasis is on youth. There's the great weather with plenty of sunshine that just encourages them."
Not surprisingly, Florida's new law has not found favor with car-stereo enthusiasts. Many have invested thousands of dollars in powerful sound systems and say they're determined to use them.
"There's going to be a whole lot of lawbreakers out there," says Amar Bachan, who installs car stereos at Mexican American Sound in Fort Lauderdale. "People want loud music while they're driving. They might turn it down if they see a police officer, but they're not going to be put off by a $70 citation."
One such driver is Sam Huggins of Deerfield Beach, who paid Fort Lauderdale's Bianca Sounds almost $1,000 to convert his white Chevrolet SUV into a mobile music machine, complete with two heavy-duty subwoofer speakers that are the size of dustbin lids.
"You have to respect the officers when you see them," he says. "But when you don't..."
Someone should invent something along the lines of those remotes that can turn off any televison, so when the idiots pull up next to you you could just shut em down.
It's all part of Karl Rove's Strategery.......
When I get next to a boom car in traffic, I open my windows, and whatever talk radio I'm listening to goes up to 11.
For sheer volume, Limbaugh and Savage can top Fiddy Cent any ole day.
THANK GOD.
I have a modest subwoofer in my car. If I slow below 40 mph, I turn it waaaay down or off completely.
Heck, cars should be built to do that automatically.
There is a college kid in our neighborhood that drives a 1980 something Ford Ranger that is all rusted and rickety. He has some serious sub woofers and a high wattage stereo. Hubby and I are waiting to see when the kid's car will start falling apart from all of the noise. The stereo he had installed is probably worth more than the vehicle.
Well, living here in Lakeland, I can tell you this, fines mean squat if no one tickets the offenders. And there doesn't appear to be much ticketing going on around here. For stereos or those noisy mufflers they put on the little rice burners.
There is an inverse relationship between the volume of the stereo and the size of the driver's willy. Which also explains why they lower the car so much. Not much chance of the willy dragging on road with these guys.
Did something like this as a class project/senior thesis in a design engineering class I took. We created an airgun that would shoot an extremely large capacitor with a magnet on one end and a trailing ground wire on the other. The object was for the charged capacitor to contact the metal on the car while the trailing ground wire, which flew behind the capacitor until it attached, contacted the ground and completed the circuit. Theoretically, the capacitor should discharge into the chassis and hopefully blow out any electronics. We had limited success. But still, wouldn't it be fantastic to toast one of these guy's stereo's...
When you literally see the glass vibrating on this cars it is already beyond annoying.
They are free to boom them on private property if that is what they want.
You don't have the right to make me listen to rap or hip hop manure in my car when you are at the light next to me.
I been at SouthBeach when one of these etiquetlly challenged stereo afficionados pass. The noise is literally louder than a crowded night club. You have to stop talking because the noise is just impossible to overcome. There is no way those drivers are going to avoid hearing damage.
I have 2 12's and a 1000 Watt amp. I like it loud, but turn it down at intersections and late at night to respect others.
Although drowning out 50 Cent with 12 Gauge is quite an appealing solution, too.
A rough rule is $1 per watt. Probably $200-400 for the speakers and about the same to upgrade the deck. So it's probably a 200-500 watt system he bought. That's pretty decent.
Sound activated spike strips...now that's a thought!
I've found that cranking up a tape of pipes and Drums makes most of the idiots turn the thumpa thumpa down.
Some of these are so loud, I can't even hear the ticking of the clock.
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