AJC > Sandy Springs > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 15
Monday, September 15, 2008
Pump up the volume and pay the fine
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Marietta has started cracking down on people who blast their car sound system. For those who get pegged the fine will be $135 - a nice chunk of change for sharing your tunes with the rest of the world.
This hits home to me for two reasons. One, I drive an ancient Volvo that has an underachieving air conditioning system, so in the warm months I drive with my windows down and can hear anyone cranking their sound system. Second, I’m an offender.
One disclaimer - my car audio system is nothing to write home about, so I don’t know how far the sound might go when it wafts out through the sunroof. But no matter, on occasion you can hear Toby Keith or Trace Atkins flowing out on my ride.
And if your karma is not in order that day you also get to hear me singing. I don’t want to think about what I could get fined for my vocal rendering of “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” [note - this is the proper name of the song] during rush hour on Roswell Road.
That aside, it might not be the worst idea for our city officials to consider the same measure. In addition to discouraging my rolling version of The Grand Old Opry, it would be nice to do something to bring down the volume of every day life. Not everyone wants to hear my radio. Or yours. Or anyone’s $1,000 sound system blasting country, hip-hop, hard rock, Rush Limbaugh or whatever they enjoy.
By the way - why is it that some of the most powerful sound systems are in some of the shabbiest-looking rides? Isn’t there a common-sense moment that should kick in when one is about to install a stereo that costs twice what the car is worth?
I can predict the opposition, because it will be the same crowd that fussed when the city trimmed the hours that late-night clubs could stay open. When that happened people screamed that the city council was trying to take the “fun” out of being a Sandy Springsteen , that they were trying to drive people out of town.
If they got that incensed over the closing time of a bar, an ordinance over the volume of their car radio would put their knickers in a twist that might never relax. Which, for my money, is reason enough to do so.
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