Re: [ST] Anti Motorcycle Rhetoric (sorry about the link,try this)

[Steve Bergman <steverayb@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Steve Bergman <steverayb@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Treat yourself to this lovely bit of narrowly focused drivel that made the
> headline on the front of the Op. Ex. section in the Sunday Minneapolis Star
> Tribune.  Apparently motorcycles are a threat to his "high quality of urban
> life".
> 
> My favorite bit is "...motorcycles are optional and totally unnecessary....".
> 
> What a wanker!
> 
> While he qualifies that some motorcycles are quiet, he proposes a total ban
> of
> all motorcycles on parkways (?).  
> 
> Freakin rebel without a cause.
> 
> 
> http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1090927.html
> 
> 
> Steve Bergman
> 
> 01 Sprint ST - Saphire Blue-

Charles M. Denny Jr.: Vroom
You're enjoying spring -- the warm sun, the chirping birds -- when suddenly ...
a wholly unnatural noise intrudes upon your reveries. And for what purpose?
Charles M. Denny Jr.
Published: April 01, 2007

The battle to preserve a high quality of livability in our cities is an
unending task. One of the threats to a high quality of urban life is the
intrusion of unacceptably high levels of noise in our residential areas.
As our population increases in the metro area, residents will experience
increased noise levels from a variety of sources. Some are the unavoidable side
effects of maintaining a vibrant economy, such as noise emanating from
aircraft, heavy trucks and construction equipment. And, some noise is attendant
to life in a city, such as that created by buses and emergency vehicles.
But there are other sources of noise that are optional. Some, such as lawn
mowers, snowblowers and leaf blowers, are artifacts of modern life. While many
of these devices could be made quieter, they serve a useful purpose.
One major source of urban noise, that of motorcycles, is optional and totally
unnecessary. In the Northern climate, it is clear that motorcycles are not an
integral part of our transportation system for they cannot be operated during
our long winter. The owners of motorcycles have alternative means of
transportation. The motorcycle is an optional vehicle for pleasure, not
utility. It is a toy, albeit an expensive one.
As pleasure vehicles, motorcycles tend to operate in groups and to concentrate
in particular and limited traffic patterns. And, as pleasure vehicles, they are
often operated in a manner that brings juvenile emotional satisfaction to their
owners but distress to those who live nearby. The effect of all these behaviors
is to saturate certain roadways of our city with high and excessive levels of
noise.
In many states and municipalities, high levels of noise have been recognized as
a health hazard and as an unjustified intrusion on the rights of residents to
enjoy a life free of unnecessary irritation.
State and municipal codes have been imposed to regulate the various sources of
noise, calibrated to recognize the legitimate sources and to limit those
sources of noise that are solely the result of choices made by individuals
without consideration of the rights of others.
The city of Minneapolis adopted such an ordinance on Dec. 12, 1997, wherein
various sources of noise were restricted within limits appropriate to the
device or machine involved. The city's regulations were based upon and
supported by federal and state technical studies that clearly defined the
issues and that proposed reasonable limitations.
The problem is that our city has refused to enforce its own ordinance. 
Gangs of motorcyclists gun their engines as they roar back and forth on city
boulevards, their signature noise often enhanced by removal of original,
quieter mufflers. The generation of noise is an addiction for many
motorcyclists. Loud bikes can be easily heard half a mile away. For the
pleasure of a few, many suffer.
It is only fair to recognize that there are quiet motorcycles, and that there
are motorcyclists who operate their machines in a manner that is respectful of
the rights of others. Unfortunately, they are vastly outnumbered by those who
crave the production of high-decibel noise.
Some cities have adopted technical monitoring as a check on such behavior.
Others have restricted access to those areas where the uncaring motorcyclists
have destroyed the quality of life for local residents, in effect distributing
the noise pollution throughout the city at large. Because of the difficulty and
cost of monitoring motorcycle noise, I urge that we adopt a policy to limit the
use of parkways by motorcyclists -- as we have for trucks -- and thereby
distribute their noise over a larger area. Further, as is done is some cities
today, an ordinance should be established prohibiting the modification of
original-equipment mufflers through modification or replacement if the result
is to increase the level of emitted noise.
It is time for our elected officials to address this problem. It is clearly
unreasonable -- indeed, unfair -- that a small number of young men, and a few
older men who wish to be seen as young, can inflict such a burden on the public
for their childish enjoyment. It is time for our elected officials to act on
behalf on the majority who seek to live their lives free of the wanton,
antisocial behaviors of a few.
Charles M. Denny Jr., a retired corporate executive, lives in Minneapolis. 



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