Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Dallas police to implement first-time offender ticketing policy on loud car stereos
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Referring to the offenders as "noise polluters," Dallas police (in the person of Deputy Chief Jan Easterling) informed the City Council's Public Safety Commission on Monday (Oct. 15) that they will soon be abandoning their warning-only policy in regard to loud car stereo operators in favor of a hard-line first-offense ticket-writing campaign to rid the streets (and other environs) of blast-you-from-your-seat woofer flaunters.
Police on the streets will be authorized to decide whether the volume of the music constitutes a disturbance to others; receiving a citation for violating the city's noise ordinance could cost the offender up to $2,000.
posted by JM
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Comments
Nathan Stull Verified
I can set up an umbrella on my lawn for any cops who want a good place for finding offenders as they drive by. I guarantee plenty of tickets to keep them busy. Heck, I'll even throw in some lemonade or warm tea, depending on the weather.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
I'm sure Chris is relieved now that he knows why he was happy in the pants all day yesterday.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Anonymous
Sagging pants, red light cameras, bike helmets, loud car stereos... It's refreshing to see the City of Dallas tackling the really serious issues.
Someday, criminals will look back at this time as a Golden Age in Dallas.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rick Yost Verified
There's nothing more irritating than this. With your windows up, and your own music playing, you still are forced to listen to the bass-booming car in traffic next to you.
However, I worry about the ever-increasing trend to legislate away the aggravations of living in society.
We rally around attempts to limit all nuisance from co-existing with others. I think at some point we must say, "that's just what it's like to live with other humans".
The more we try to make life perfect, the less freedoms we all have.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Robert Kelly Verified
Amen Scott. And Rick. Really - if you want that kind of 'quietude' get your ass to the country.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
luniz Anonymous
There's nothing more annoying? I think that's a stretch. In fact I enjoy listening to music fairly loudly and my window down. I'm sorry but I don't think it's reasonable to expect silence when you're stopped at a busy red light. I don't know what right the police have to prevent people from listening to music loudly in their own cars, unless it causes legitimate problems, like people (in other cars) can't hear sirens over it.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Nathan Stull Verified
I agree about over legislation, it's just hard when your house windows rattle from a car driving by. ijs.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Aaron Johnson Verified
Why don't they call it like it is? It's just another excuse, oops, 'probable cause', to pull over minorities. It's a shame. Learn to get along don't legislate to get along....
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Bemused Anonymous
*There's nothing more irritating than this. With your windows up, and your own music playing, you still are forced to listen to the bass-booming car in traffic next to you.*
Mr. Yost, there is, in fact, something more irritating: an outdoor music venue whose amplifiers are aimed at a residential area. But I shan't prattle about that at present. My views on the issue are thoroughly documented.
Some urban sounds are unavoidable (e.g., planes, trains, buses, construction, and so on), but loud bass emanating from a car is pure noise pollution. Individuals responsible for such behavior should be ticketed. It's a nuisance to most observers, and there's no excuse for it. Confine your poor taste to your own vehicle.
You fools who support the right to make as much noise as possible are a pack of provincials. It's ironic that you encourage people who want quietude to move to the country, because that's precisely where you should be living. Dallas is a joke. A mature city such as NYC would never tolerate the behavior you cherish.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rick Yost Verified
Nathan- sorry about your predicament. Having such a problem at home has to be a drag.
I don't expect silence at a traffic light, but no one is forced to hear the crap I listen to, why should I have to hear everyone else's?
Yes, I used to be young and stupid. (now I'm just older) I used to drive with my music up loud and the windows down so all could hear the cool stuff I listen to, and know how cool I was.
I was once starved for attention.
Eventually everyone grows up. (well, they get older anyway)
Now I see it doesn't matter how cool you appear.
If everyone was this selfish- angrily waving their particular tastes in everyone else's face, we'd really have a mess.
Oops! That is the case isn't it?
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rawlins Gilliland Verified
Schmoozing Bemused Chapter 213:
I hate to tell you, fool that you are Mr. Jones, but I live not much father from Downtown than you and my backyard...a mere 2 blocks below my hill (yes a hill in Dallas)... overlooks the 17 mile long Trinity Forest. So it's damn quiet here, and I've been darned happy here for 24 damn years. Thank you very much.
Now, as I leave to have my sunset hike in said forested trails with my dog Honey (who is 1/4 coyote and could eat a mongoose.... or you), I suggest, as a Dallas native emissary wishing you to find your bliss, that YOU take a hike.
PS: Your gripe should not be with this city but rather 1) your parents and the resultant gene pool you are clearly drowning in 2) your realtor who must have laughed all the way to the bank. .
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Glen Anonymous
Baloney, Aaron. The majority of the boom thugs are white and middle class. One cannot use "racial profiling" in THIS situation.
I suggest that you all read this. It's very informative.
http://www.noboomers.com/
Remember: A person has the right to swing his fist in the air. The right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.
These sociopaths have, for too long, made things miserable for residents of Dallas who just want to go through day in peace and relative sanity. I don't care what kind of music it is; I listen to music, but I don't inflict it on other people who may not want to hear it. It's a matter of simple consideration.
Glen
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Nathan Stull Verified
Yeah, I was going to say it's less racism, as it's more ageism--against those aged 16 to about 21-25 when they figure out there are more important things in life.
And I'm probably more sensitive about it because sometimes it happens as I'm putting my baby to sleep, or in the middle of the night.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
JamesJ Anonymous
One of the problems is that people don't only experience invasive bass noise in traffic; they experience it in their homes. Many people are very sensitive to it and suffer tormenting physical and psychological effects from it, such as heart palpitations and dizziness. It is not just an aggrivation or bother; the suffering is very real. Closing windows does not keep low bass out at all, so the only hope is in law enforcement. No one is demanding silence here--only that their homes not be invaded by an unnecessary pollutant that causes terrible anguish. We are not talking about the natural sounds of humans.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Miller Verified
Where I live in Oak Cliff there are frequent weekend parties, with loud tejano music that can be heard in our living room. I look at it as a happy noise; it beats the hell out of gunfire in the distance. If it were something I couldn't tolerate I wouldn't live here.
But even live, outdoor music is no match for the bone rattling sub woofers some people put in their cars.
I don't get it. I usually love loud music but having your very guts, bones and teeth shaken is something else entirely.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Bemused Anonymous
Gilliand, your attack is completely unwarranted. I never stated that solitude is impossible to find in a city. I have been an urban dweller throughout my life and have always achieved relative silence. And please cease to spout nonsense about how noise is the problem of the victim burdened by it. Why not trace the virus to its origin and sanction those who impose inconsiderate behavior upon others?
The City of Dallas is beginning to awaken to the shortcomings of its restrictions on disruptive activity. Dallas is atrociously lax compared to most cities. This is changing, as well it should.
By the way, Gilliand, if an outdoor music venue were erected at the doorstep of your bucolic haven, do you think you'd be able to apply the argument that you were there first to escape the impending invasion? Of course not, because who was their first is of no import. Dallas needs to ensure that residents and businesses can coexist without conflict. This means that businesses must be self-contained entities, regardless of where they operate or how long they've been in existence. If you don't comprehend that, Gilliand, I fail to envision how you gather the intelligence to use a computer.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Billusa99 Anonymous
Bemused... cut Rawlins some slack. He's was volunteering at KERA early this morning, espousing peeps to donate. Because he lives by the only hill in Dallas and has a lock on superb righteousness, you must realize that your thoughts don't count.
Once you realize that, your gripe should not be with his comment but rather that he still has a canvas here with which to pontificate it.
You are not alone... so go gently into the night, and strike next when the iron is hot.
Like now.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Clay213 Anonymous
I hear loud bass in my loft every weekend. Why? I moved into an area with a lot of clubs.
Do I complain?
Nope..
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Billusa99 Anonymous
And Rawlins.... lest you rag on me, now... cut the other commenter some slack.
IJS.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rick Yost Verified
This is why I have such little faith in humanity- every thread on this site turns into a sand-box squabble.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Chad Jones Staff
Well, it does make murder and war less intangible.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rick Yost Verified
And I doubt you really need to give Rawlins any slack- I'm sure he can handle you ruffians.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rawlins Gilliland Verified
Bill, my earlier comments were made when once again, no matter what the discussion, the discussion becomes a dispute was about 'that bar'; about the same thing it was before: people living where there is a pre-existing noise like airports and yes, the (dare I say it? The Cedars) neighborhood in question. And Bill, you live on a hill also. And a quiet one when you bought it, and a quiet one today. Not some mixed use conglomerate of urban transition. I am hardly the first to call for a truce on that an already beaten dead horse that has almost no relevancy to the larger readership, and is no longer relevant to this or other threads. Mike Orren himself was no less uncharitable is expressing his fatigue with this chronic drone.
It was neither me nor others that took this once again off message: I saw the ongoing detour, that is inevitable lately, to be still another sermon about what is 'wrong with Dallas'. And then the inevitable NYC reference, et al. Any regular reader...that would be us... knows the drill by heart.
Now for what this thread actually is about:
I lived in NYC when then Mayor Giuliani passed the ordinance against 'boom boxes' and over-hyped car stereo volume. I have Sirius in my car and office, and am a son of two musicians. But I make every effort to NOT have my music where others can hear it when I am at a red light. If I have the sunroof open, I turn the music down. File it under respect for others and manners. As opposed to those who have it at top volume with the doors and window open while they pump gas. Also inevitable.
Ironically I support ordinances against loud noise in neighborhoods. And yes, for two years there was one house across the street that was in violation. But the neighborhood that was driven in the ground in earlier blogs by the multi-faceted Pampas/Chris/bemused was and is a mixed commercial area. I moved OUT of my original neighborhood of East Dallas next to the now Cuba Libre for the very reasons. I did not want to become another Avi Adelman. Or Chris Jones.
Postscript: Thank you Bill if you pledged. I'd like to buy you a beer and talk about the humane ways to address the coyote situation that you and I have discussed in other threads about which you voiced concern when the traps were set up near you. And thank you for touting me about the Drs w/o Borders setup near you. I appreciated it immensely. When I first discovered Pegasus, I believe I crossed you regarding something that I know almost nothing about; restaurants. Since you are a self-professed ‘foodie’ I bow to your expertise and hope my initial comments during the ‘Thanks Tristan’ round of drinks can be forgotton, because, to be honest, I neither knew what I was talking about regarding the players… nor cared about that topic. I can steer someone to a cheap steak and Colombian food and Tex Mex and that’s it. Luckily some of my friends have more money than I and ‘drag’ me to tony diners. Otherwise, I’m home cooking. Yes, on a hill.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Rick Yost Verified
"...told ya!"
And venture downtown to my place and I'll buy you both a beverage.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
DC Anonymous
As I have said before, they might as well pass a "no tsunamis" ordinance so that they could at least claim successful enforcement of something.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Bemused Anonymous
Gilliand, you reinforce my innate distrust of humanitarians.
Glen has made the best point in this blog:
*These sociopaths have, for too long, made things miserable for residents of Dallas who just want to go through the day in peace and relative sanity. I don't care what kind of music it is; I listen to music, but I don't inflict it on other people who may not want to hear it. It's a matter of simple consideration.*
This criterion should apply to individuals and businesses alike, both on the highway and, yes, Gilliand, in mixed-use areas. In time, perhaps after countless lawsuits, Dallas will reform.
8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
whoameye Anonymous
This noise issue goes to the anti-social (psychopath) behavior of these types of individuals. Some grow out of it others are simple stuck with it genetically. Confused? Google the two words.
So what, right. Anyway, I'd never pay a ticket for just annoying people with muisc I enjoy. Who's gonna make me, huh. I don't care how loud my music is - I hope it does bother you!
8 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Robert Kelly Verified
I guess Bemused should just move to New York.
8 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Michael Davis Verified
It's cool to have a little system in your car and pump it a little. But why must the entire block be annoyed when you drive through someone's block a 2 am with the volume all the way up. That's whom this ordinance is designed for. And these laws have been on the books. The police tried to give people leeway but it didn't work.
8 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
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