November 1, 2002
Noise Free America
For immediate release
Contact:
Ted Rueter
877-NOISE-NO
[email protected]
Madison: Lee County, Florida has won this month’s Noisy Dozen award from Noise Free America, for tolerating loud boom car stereos, noisy mufflers, blasting motorcycles, booming home stereos, low-flying aircraft, and honking horns.
One Fort Meyers resident commented, “This place is noise hell. I can’t focus or concentrate. I suffer tremendous loss of sleep and lack of productivity because of this constant noise.”
Many Lee County law enforcement officials are just as frustrated with noise violators. One Florida Highway Patrol officer stated, “I have a difficult time pulling them over. They never hear my siren.” A local sheriff’s deputy commented, “As soon as they see us, they turn it down. As soon as we are gone, they turn it back up.”
Another Lee County resident stated that “in the southernmost part of the county, you can hear the tremendous boom and vroom from illegal vehicles with 800 watt systems. They can usually be heard coming and going for blocks–sometimes as much as a mile! Then there are the loud motorcycle hogs and rice burners that make a completely different racket. The destructive vibrations that emanate from these monstrous vehicles are enough to make any quiet-minded person pack up and move!”
Mark Huber said that “it’s horrible that these inconsiderate, self-absorbed individuals are getting away with making all this noise. After-market exhausts are clearly illegal. The police need to monitor these violations much more closely.”
Ted Rueter, director of Noise Free America, stated that “the solution for Lee County is to follow the example of other municipalities and create a noise enforcement division that does nothing but enforce laws governing excessive noise. People in Lee County–as well as the rest of the nation–need to stand up for their right to peace and quiet. America’s quality of life is at stake.”
Noise Free America is a national citizens group dedicated to reducing noise pollution. Its web site is http://noisefree.org. Past “winners” of the award include Flowmaster and the Massachusetts Department of Education.