The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
There are worse things in the world than my complaint for this week. War. Famine. Professional wrestling. Nevertheless, it's worth drawing attention to the problem our community has of (often) youthful motorists modifying their vehicles for the purpose of making more noise. We've all heard these trucks ripping down our streets and highways. You'd have to be deaf not to. They can be loud enough to interrupt conversations and shake nearby windows. I know nothing about auto mechanics, but I'm told there are several ways to boost your noise pollution while behind the wheel. A popular one involves the installation of a 'bottle' in place of a standard muffler. With no operational value, a bottle lacks the sound-deadening qualities of its factory counterpart. If that's not earsplitting enough, you could always remove your catalytic converter, used to remove noxious gases from the exhaust. Then you can create more racket AND pollution. Golly! The Reminder carried a front page article last week (Modified trucks a noisy, illegal concern, March 31) on this sort of nonsense. In the story, police noted that Highway Traffic Act fines for such unnecessary noise range from $90 to $185 depending on the offense and what side of the border you're on. I viewed the article almost as a piece of activist journalism. My sincere hope was that this friendly reminder about the illegality of these vehicle modifications might help crack down on the problem. I soon realized how naive I was being. People who drive these obtrusive automobiles obviously don't care about the Highway Traffic Act. As one local mechanic told me, these guys (you don't see too many ladies involved) are trying their best to be "manly." Is this really what passes for macho these days? It's manly to irritate people going about their day to day lives? It's cool to have others jot down your vehicle description or license plate number to forward to the RCMP? I don't get it. Obviously much of this problem (like so many others) can be chalked up largely to youthful indiscretion. We've all looked back at things we used to do and thought, "You idiot!" I just wish those with these loud, aggravating and illegal truck modifications would come to their own realization a little bit sooner. Local Angle runs Fridays.
