I’m walking down the street in Wailuku and I hear the
familiar rumble of a large Hog (Harley-Davidson motorcycle) approaching from
the rear. As is my habit, I quickly plug my ears with my fingers. The biker
stops at a stop sign just ahead, turns to glare at me and repeatedly revs his
engine to a deafening level, taunting and punishing me for not admiring him and
his noisy machine.
It has been firmly established that frequent or prolonged
exposure to loud sounds can cause or aggravate serious health problems,
including hearing loss, anxiety and high blood pressure. Unwanted noise is a
major cause of stress. We acknowledge this by enacting and enforcing laws that
forbid excessive noise from defective car mufflers, car stereos, barking dogs,
late-night parties and construction projects. Inexplicably, we have exempted
motorcycles from such regulation.
Many large cycles, especially Hogs, are horribly loud off
the assembly line, then routinely made even louder with muffler modifications
by the owners. One such bike roaring through a neighborhood interrupts all
conversation, relaxation, sleep, and enjoyment of music and television.
Hundreds of people are affected by one biker. When twenty such bikes roar by
together it’s as loud as a jet airliner taking off.
Why do we put up with this tyranny of noise? The technology
exists to silence motorcycles as effectively as car mufflers silence
300-horse-power sedans. Some large bikes use such technology and zoom along
quietly. But Hog owners, encouraged by the Harley-Davidson company, which has
patented the rumble, have a fetish for the noise and they enjoy imposing it on
others. They make no exceptions for schools, libraries, hospitals or
residential neighborhoods late at night. Why do we tolerate this?
One person told me that any effort to restrict motorcycle
noise is doomed to fail because “it’s a cultural thing, like fireworks.” But we
allow and endure fireworks only a couple days a year, not every minute of every
day. It used to be culturally acceptable to smoke in restaurants, theaters and
offices. Now it’s unthinkable. We can change cultural norms if we want to.
Society has made a lot of progress in raising awareness
about air, water and food pollution. We have made some progress against noise
pollution, but not nearly enough. We need to cancel the sacred-cow status of
two-wheelers. Large bikes are not the only offenders. We have a growing problem
with little scooters that sound like huge chainsaws.
A Hog owner told me he loves to hear the rumble of his
bike with the wind in his face. I suggested he put on headphones, crank up a
recording of a gang of Hogs and sit in front of a fan. But then he wouldn’t have
the perverse pleasure of imposing his racket on others.
Of course, industry lobbyists oppose efforts to quiet the
cycles, so it would take political courage to improve the situation. There
isn’t much of that in our state and county legislatures, so lovers of peace and
quiet will have to apply pressure, much as anti-smoking activists have done with
great success.
