Editor: Noise levels on city streets are needlessly high due in part to a small minority of selfish, narcissistic exhibitionists that make something as simple as walking on the sidewalk an extremely uncomfortable experience.
Excessively loud cars, motorcycles, and pickup trucks are more than just a nuisance to the vast majority of people that live in Burnaby and elsewhere. Big trucks, buses, emergency vehicles, and others are noisy by necessity; however, noise bylaws should be enforced on that super-annoying minority. Such bylaws exist: why are they not enforced? While I recognize that politics must remain at arm’s length from policing, there are steps that could be taken at the political level to mitigate this unnecessary assault on our ears.
It has come to my attention that in other jurisdictions microphones are being installed in conjunction with red light cameras, so that photographs of offending vehicles are taken and tickets issued. It is time that Burnaby did something similar. Furthermore, some cities are proactively cutting off these scourges at the source.
New vehicles leave the factory with noise abatement equipment; installation of loud “mufflers” is an after-market modification. If it is not already, the purchase and installation of such equipment should be illegal. In some U.S. cities, shops that specialize in this kind of work are being forced to cease and desist: they are either being shut down, or prevented from doing that sort of business.
It is clear to me that I am not the only person in the city that is of this opinion. This is not simply an annoyance: it is a health issue. The gratuitous noise pollution from offending vehicles is at an unsafe level for the human ear. I do not think that it is an exaggeration to estimate that at least 95 per cent of Burnaby residents would welcome definitive action to make the city a quieter, more pleasant place to live. Thank you for your attention.
Michael Langille
