Boom Cars

["David Staudacher" <quiet@xxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 8 Jun 1997 10:43:43 -0400 (EDT), 
Sorrento95@aol.com  <Sorrento95@aol.com> wrote:

> A single boom car can inflict stress, sleep
> deprivation, and aggravation on 100s of victims during a 
> 10-minute excursion.
>           -- Michael Wright
>
  I try to make exactly that point when I'm trying to get someone else 
to understand the *immense* numbers of people being affected.  At  
first they think, "If you only hear it for 30 seconds or so, as they 
drive by, what's so bad about that?"  But consider how wide the 
"circle of noise" is on a boom car.  In a level area, you can easily 
feel/hear the bump/thumping 3 city blocks away.  A circle with a 
radius of 3 blocks has a total area of (3 times 3) times pi (3.14) 
equals over 28 city blocks. If there are 12 lots per block and an 
average of 4 persons per lot that gives 48 persons per block. Even 
though that seems low, it still gives a total of 1344 persons actually 
or potentially being affected at any given instant.  And thats not 
even considering the layering factor which comes with apartments.  And 
for every block the car travels, it takes in some two hundred *more* 
persons in its swath.  A 2 mile joy ride can easily affect over 10,000 
people.
   It would take an entire marching band to generate that much 
acoustic energy, but for that - you'd need a permit.  And even then 
you'd never be allowed to perform after 11:00 PM - prime time for boom 
cars.  Anyone with average intelligence ought to see how upside down 
things have become, but its hard to get people to stop and think.

David Staudacher - quiet@igc.org 
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