June 1, 2014
Noise Free America
For immediate release
Contact:
Larry Deal
[email protected]
Ted Rueter
[email protected]
877-664-7366
Chapel Hill: Concerned Bikers Association/ American Bikers Aimed Toward Education (CBA/ABATE) of Buncombe county, North Carolina has won this month’s Noisy Dozen award from Noise Free America for sponsoring the “Hot Springs Motorcycle Weekend” in Hot Springs, North Carolina from June 20 to June 22, 2014. The sponsors of the noisemaking event warn, “This is a motorcycle rally. There may be noise and music all night long. People come to have a good time, so don’t be offended by your neighbors. Earplugs are a good thing.”
The event is sure to feature plenty of noise and plenty of alcohol, with live entertainment, scantily-clad women, and illegally-loud motorcycles. Rally organizers advise that the “event is BYOB. No one under 21 is allowed.”
Larry Deal, an anti-noise activist in North Carolina, notes that “many North Carolinians are very offended by noisy motorcycle rallies. They should not have to wear ear plugs to deal with this illegal noise.”
Western North Carolina, an area of natural beauty, has been plagued with excessive motorcycle noise for years. Motorcycle rallies such as the “Hot Springs Weekend” attract thousands of excessively loud motorcycles. The motorcycle noise not only affects people near the rally; it also affects tens of thousands of people throughout the state, as bikers travel to the event.
Deal noted that “most motorcycle noise is the result of direct, illegal actions by motorcycle owners. Many motorcyclists illegally tamper with their exhaust systems in order to make their motorcycles as loud as possible. The federal Noise Control Act of 1972 establishes noise emission limits for all motorcycles made since 1983; most illegally-modified motorcycles greatly exceed that limit. Tampering with or removing a motorcycle exhaust violates state and federal law. Unfortunately, these laws are rarely enforced. North Carolina’s motorcycle noise and muffler law needs to be strengthened and enforced.”
Ted Rueter, Noise Free America’s director, stated that “so-called ‘motorcycle rights organizations’ such as CBA/ ABATE of Buncombe county proclaim that their goal is ‘education, not legislation.’ In reality, their purpose is to oppose more effective laws and enforcement against excessive motorcycle noise. Their purpose is to protect the ‘right’ of motorcyclists to thunder down the road, inflicting sleep deprivation, hearing loss, heart disease, and chronic fatigue on peace-loving Americans. Governments at the local, state, and federal levels should take strong action against excessive motorcycle noise, to protect public health.”
Noise Free America is a national citizens’ organization devoted to noise reduction. Past “winners” of the Noisy Dozen award include the North Carolina state legislature, the Milwaukee Motorcycle Rally, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.