Boom Cars on the Big Island

You are in your home enjoying your dinner when suddenly a strange THUMP! THUMP! KA-THUMP! invades your space. It is felt as much as heard. A deep vibration that is annoying and unsettling. How about this: You are in your car, diving along or perhaps at a traffic stop when BOOMP, BOOMP, KA-BOOMP invades your vehicle to the extent you can't hear your own music or converse with your passengers. There's no escape. it is assault by noise.

You are a victim of the ever growing "Boom Car" syndrome. People purchase powerful amplifiers, connected to drivers that occupy much of the space in their vehicle, to create bass that will travel a very long distance. These sounds are in the double digit Hertz range and have the power to actually move move objects. The technology has actually been considered for military purposes to disable and disrupt opposing forces.

With the advent of superb headphones, why would anyone need to have something in their car powerful enough to be heard a block away? The answer lies in psychology 101. The "look at me" condition. The lack of any social responsibility means the owner of the equipment believe they can do whatever they want without any consideration for the effect on others.

Many local governments have enacted tough laws to deal with the problem. Here is a public service TV announcement from Gulfport:
Gulfport TV spot

We do have noise laws on the Big Island to address the problem:

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Section 14-18. Use of sound reproducing devices in public areas.
(a) It shall be a violation of law for any person or persons to play, use, operate, or permit to be played, used, or operated, any radio, tape recorder, cassette player, or other machine or device for reproducing sound, if:
(1) Such machine or device is located in or on:
(A) Any public property, including any public street, highway, building, sidewalk, park, or thoroughfare; or
(B) Any motor vehicle on a public street, highway, or public space; and
(2) The sound generated by such machine or device is audible at a distance of fifty feet from the machine or device producing the sound.
(b) Possession by a person or persons of any of the machines or devices enumerated in subsection (a) shall be prima facie evidence that that person, or those persons, operated the machine or device at the time in question, in violation of this section.
(1975 C.C., c. 6, art. 11, sec. 11; Am. 1990, Ord. No. 90-65, sec. 2.)
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Obviously, we need to encourage our local police to enforce the existing law. We must petition the legislature to reduce the existing pollution distance of 50 feet to 20 feet now used for most codes.