The automobile as beat box
Not anymore, if a Florida state representative gets his way:
State Representative D. Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) last month introduced House Bill 137 which modifies an existing loud stereo statute to double the cost of fines and make the offense a moving violation.
Current Florida law makes it unlawful to drive with a stereo “plainly audible” from twenty-five feet away or that is “louder than necessary for the convenient hearing by persons inside the vehicle” when driving past a church, school or hospital. Law enforcement officers are exempt as are politicians who use loud soundmaking devices for “political purposes.” The typical fine is $78 with no points.
HB 137 would impose three license points and boost the fine to $180 for a third offense.
Of course, even $180 is trivial next to the insurance-premium jacking you’re going to get with three points. Not that the $16,000 Hays has received from insurance companies in the past five years has anything to do with this.
I expect this bill to be fought purely on racial-profiling grounds, inasmuch as no one is going to be busted for playing Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte at high volume.
Jeffro »
11 October 2009 · 9:41 am
Colorado uses dB meters to enforce their muffler requirements for big trucks when using compression (Jake) brakes, so I expect if Florida really wants to enforce that idea, they’ll have to tie the noise level into something more concrete rather than as subjective as it is.
I guess its a sign of getting older, but the stock stereos in most new vehicles sound pretty good as they are to me – they pull in FM better, and sound better than what I grew up with. Considering that was some sort of 8-track with Kraco speakers, it’s not much of a leap.
But, we tried to put our money into improving performance. Any earth shaking going on wasn’t from massive subwoofers – it was from pavement wrinkling torque. Fart cans, spoilers and massive amps just wouldn’t have cut it.
McGehee »
11 October 2009 · 9:48 am
Sounds like a challenge.
sya »
11 October 2009 · 11:50 am
There was one time when I was living in a dorm when some passerby told me to turn my classical music down, so I think yes, there is a possibility that you could get busted for playing Ravel.
fillyjonk »
11 October 2009 · 2:24 pm
Well, I know I would complain if someone played “Bolero” at high volume, but that’s largely because it’s one piece I hate.
CGHill »
11 October 2009 · 2:40 pm
The danger with “Boléro,” I think, is that if you turn it up loud enough to hear at the beginning, it will be at aircraft-hangar levels of loudness at the end. Then again, this is also true of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” which owes a lot to “Boléro,” if you ask me.