Roadguy is out on the road again for several days, but he knows that a day without a transportation blog is like a day without fossil fuels, so he’s endeavoring to provide you with at least a quick post or two to tide you over.

Fortunately, alert reader Amy sent along this extensive rant to keep y’all occupied:

What is it with men, trucks, and ridiculously loud exhaust systems? I will NEVER understand this. WHY would anyone want to ride in a vehicle with that much noise and vibration? And don’t tell me safety (so that others hear them), because many of them drive like maniacs.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it does not have to be a truck, I have seen it on cars also. But it often is a truck. Oh, and a redneck. Today a guy was in front of me who was the prototype: license plate was something like “toy4tom,” his exhaust was obnoxious, and he threw a cigarette butt out his window onto the road (ooooh, another great topic, is the world their ashtray?).

And I wonder about these so-called noise ordinance laws. Why are they not enforced? I guarantee you if some young kid was blasting rap music to that degree he would not go so easily unnoticed. But because it’s often a middle-aged, white baby-boomer, it’s completely tolerated.

I live about 3/4 of a mile from a relatively residential street… As I watch TV, I can HEAR some of these trucks for seemingly miles as they go by. And this is not an uncommon occurrence; quite the contrary, it’s almost constant. …

Some cyclists do this as well, and that is no less irritating. When my partner and I first visited downtown Stillwater, we mistakenly chose to eat outside at an Italian restaurant. Big mistake. Due to men (and some women) making rounds (yes, they repeatedly drive down the same street) on their ear-piercing cycles, we often could not converse.

It’s an honest question that I have for these people: what is the point of such an obnoxious vehicle? … Do we not get enough traffic-related noise living in the metro area? I am about 2 miles from 694 and can occasionally hear a semi-truck on the highway. But these loud exhaust vehicles take the cake. They are much more numerous and way louder. … Are these men trying to compensate for something that I need to know about? Because if I am supposed to feel sorry for them I would like to know….

Even my cats sometimes wake up startled. I live in Oakdale, but you would think it’s the “Dukes of Hazzard.” PLEASE MAKE IT STOP. Maybe I will contact the city right now and ask why noise ordinances are not enforced.

Roadguy isn’t sure about noise ordinances or how they’re enforced, but he’s pretty sure that Amy is not alone in her sentiments — and that more than a few vehicle owners are proud to be loud. Let’s, um, hear from both camps below.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2007 at 6:05 am and is filed under Moron Patrol, Transportation conversations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.