Noise Ordinance
With a new, proposed anti-noise ordinance having been drafted for the Madison City Council, the question of noise pollution has drawn a number of comments on the Old Madison website recently.
During the same time period, I received an e-mail from a downtown Madison resident, Steve Holden, who lives on East Main Street and has raised a couple of thought-provoking issues directly connected to that of noise pollution.
Holden wrote:
“Everyone is getting on the bandwagon to improve the downtown appeal. I am all for it because I am part of the downtown. One thing we can do to improve the downtown (without spending any money) is start enforcing some of the speed limits and noise pollution laws.
“The section of Main Street (which is also 421 for three blocks)is a disgrace to the city. Large trucks use engine braking (columnist’s note: so-called “jake braking”) in this residential area just to hear their own noise. We have one truck that goes past this area about six times a day. You can hear him coming across the bridge, going up one block until 421 turns, going up the hill one block and engine breaking at every intersection.
“I was at the riverfront yesterday and about 15 motorcycles went past and you could not hear them. Guess what? They actually had mufflers. Let’s start posting engine breaking quiet muffler signs. Then let’s start enforcing the laws ntil we get a reputation with drivers that Madison means business with noise polluters.
“So let’s spend money to get people here, and have them come back because it is a nice peaceful city.”
Wikipedia defines “jake braking,” technically called using “engine brakes” or “compression brakes,” as something that allows large trucks to slow down rapidly — but which also causes excessive amounts of noise which can be disturbing in thickly populated areas, such as a downtown.
As Mr. Holden noted in his e-mail, motorcycles DO come from the factory with mufflers. But many people who purchase them use a screwdriver or other implement to punch the baffles or sound absorbers out of the muffler so the engine will roar loudly, thereby (presumably) impressing spectators with what a big, bad hog the guy is riding.
But the riders of these mangled-muffler motorcycles need to keep in mind that not everyone wants to hear that roaring which is, in this advanced technological day and age, totally unnecessary. The same thing applies to the big trucks with their jake brakes. If you’re a truck driver, and you need to use your jake brakes frequently so you can make quick stops, maybe you’re driving too fast.
Maybe some of Mr. Holden’s suggestions will become part of the discussion the city council holds about the proposed new noise ordinance. I think they were good points. In this modern, noisy world, an ordinance about that noise needs to be updated just like any other. After all, we haven’t always had jake brakes — or motorcycles.
Old Corporal <corporalko@yahoo.com>
Hold it down!, – Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 18:58:02 (EDT)
