November 1, 2014
Noise Free America
For immediate release
Contact:
Ted Rueter
877-NOISE-NO
[email protected]
Chapel Hill: The Midwest SPL (sound performance level) national final competition held October 24-26, 2014 in Sedelia, Missouri has won this month’s Noisy Dozenaward from Noise Free America for promoting extremely loud noise. The theme of the event was “Livin’ loud.” Indeed, decibel levels at car audio competitions often reach 150 dB–equivalent to a person standing near a Boeing 747 at full throttle.
Boom car competitions have been around for several decades and are growing in popularity. There are boom car competitions across the United States and in 40 countries. The noisemaking fun experienced by participants is featured on the Midwest SPL’s Facebook page and in a You Tube video on the 2010 event.
Boom car boys Troy Vonfelt, Marquis Hubbard, and Bob McFarland of Hutchinson, Kansas competed in the Midwest SPL noisemaking event, calling themselves the “DB Outlaws.” Explaining his interest in making extreme noise, Hubbard said, “It’s about pushing the level of sound, getting loud and the science that goes with it.” According to The Hutchinson News, “McFarland simply enjoys the thrill of making noise.” McFarland states, “It’s a fat guy’s sports, just turning up a dial.”
Larry Deal, a member of Noise Free America, wonders “what is so great about causing car audio systems to crank out as many decibels as possible? Ever since the start of the boom car dB competition craze in the 1980s, complaints about thunderous boom cars have been on the rise. Boom cars have destroyed many neighborhoods and communities. The excessive and unnecessary thumping inflicted on the public by boom cars is unlawful and harmful to public health. It must be dealt with by enacting and enforcing effective laws and regulations–including banning some boom car equipment.”
Deal notes that virtually all boom cars are registered as highway vehicles, where they “thump and blast down the road. Boom car competitions glamorize the culture of aggressive noisemaking. Boom cars should not be allowed on public highways.”
The culture of aggressive noisemaking is present in advertisements for boom car equipment, which feature such wholesome slogans as “”Disturb the peace,” “Turn it up; keep it up,” and “Got loud? Get louder!”
Ted Rueter, Noise Free America’s director, noted that “the noisemaking event in Missouri featured awful thumping from hyped-up bass emissions. Residents of central Missouri were pounded by the competition-class boom cars thumping through the area. Citizens of Missouri and the entire nation deserve to be free from unlawful and excessive noise.”
Noise Free America is a national citizens’ group opposed to excessive noise. Past “winners” of the Noisy Dozen award include the “Aspen sound stereo competition” and the menace of boom cars in Roseville, Michigan.