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New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

roadandtrack.com

351–360 of 483 posts

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#351
post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Australia, rich people have their cars registered to companies so they are not responsible for the demerit points. If the only punishment is a fine then it's only a rule for poor people. edit: Just googled and they may have closed that loophole, I have no idea if any of it is actually enforced though. My point about fines only affecting poor people still stands.

Given how prevalent and regressive fines are I really don't understand why there isn't more noise about changing them. A $350 fine could be trivial for one person and life crushing for another. Something like mandatory community service would actually cause rich assholes some pain. Of course there are probably plenty of ways to game community service so there would need to be strict requirments, or maybe there's a to…

Some countries use day fines, which are proportional to one’s income: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-fine

As to why we don’t switch to a system like that: the people with the power to change it are the ones who benefit from the inequitable status quo.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#352
post #2

Good. I look forward to this enforcement in my city. I currently live against a major road. During the night, the traffic noise isn’t disturbing, except for about one vehicle in a thousand. And that motorcycle wakes me at 3am. For weeks on end. My neighbor’s kid’s motorcycle. On his way to work at 3am, has to gun it when turning out of the neighborhood, waking everyone. These are neighbors who had shot their next doo…

Similar deal here. Some asshole at my apartment got an expensive new car that literally the entire building (with god knows how many units, it's big) hears every single time he enters or leaves. He revs his engine twice on every single floor of the parking garage and all along the street I'm situated on. He'll even do it for hours on end (he did on Monday!). I honestly think he's trying to harass someone in particula…

I've always fantasized about getting a coffee can of thermite…

Engine can't make noise if there's a 6" hole going through it.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is just an acceptable responsibility that comes with driving on roads. When you have the ability to cause massive amounts of damage, you have to accept that there is a lot of regulation and compliance to deal with to keep this damage under control. You wouldn't think twice about requiring private pilots to be subject to all kinds of safety and management rules and I think it's fair the same applies to ro…

People have been 'driving on roads' for over 100 years. Why do you think more and more regulation and oversight is now necessary, coupled with endless penalties? Surely train operators and cyclists (the latter often don't seem to think the rules of the road apply to them, endangering others) have similar concerns

Because more people live in cities than ever before and more value is being put on having quality sleep and quiet. Cities need to be transformed in to the nicest places to live to lower housing costs and help the environment. One of the most impactful things that can be done is catching the very tiny percent of people causing basically all the noise. It should also be in the hands of the people who live there. If you want to drive through an area, you should be subject to measures set by the people of that area.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like most people in the suburbs the OP could probably answer in the affirmative. My brother does this professionally and he gets by just fine without any such machines. It’s kind of a selling point for people who don’t want fumes, dust and chemicals in their gardens.

How are you getting "fumes" in your garden, which is outdoors? This just seems like such an obvious class divide thing to me. Those guys out there with the leaf blowers are working their ass off, sorry it's loud for a few minutes per day.

> Those guys out there with the leaf blowers are working their ass off, sorry it's loud for a few minutes per day.

So is the real answer pay them better and have them use rakes?

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#355
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he does that enough, I wouldn't be surprised by someone taking some self-help measures. Gas tank donations are one common approach, as is helping aesthetics by removing those unsightly air valves on tires.

Oil pan drain plug removal can help them change the oil on their car, but remember to remind them to refill the oil or else their engine might seize!

They might notice the low oil light warning. If they immediately shut off their engine, the engine will probably be just fine. Modern oil "sticks" to the moving parts much better, so it takes a day or two for it to all drip down into the sump.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#356
post #97
post #2

Good. I look forward to this enforcement in my city. I currently live against a major road. During the night, the traffic noise isn’t disturbing, except for about one vehicle in a thousand. And that motorcycle wakes me at 3am. For weeks on end. My neighbor’s kid’s motorcycle. On his way to work at 3am, has to gun it when turning out of the neighborhood, waking everyone. These are neighbors who had shot their next doo…

Well if they go to work at 3am, that probably means they’re asleep earlier in the day. All you gotta do is blast music at that time until they get the message. For extra fun, automate it to start playing music as early as you can to match their sleep schedule, even when you’re out of the house. Say that it’s to warm up your speakers for when you get home.

Just get a boombox and play engine-revving noises. They might be too dense otherwise to make the connection.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#357
post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. unarmed does not mean they were not a threat or innocent 2. No human endeavor is perfect. I am willing to accept some tragic mistakes in exchange for the prevention of crimes and the dissuasion of criminals.

> I am willing to accept some tragic mistakes in exchange for the prevention of crimes and the dissuasion of criminals. I mostly agree with this, but there needs to be an effort to hold people accountable when mistakes are made, and to change processes to help ensure that these mistakes don't happen again, or at least happen less often. Police departments across the US seem near-violently resistant to this.

I think that irresponsibly spreading propaganda which implies “police are more dangerous than criminals” while simultaneously demanding “accountability” is unlikely to convince the police that any “accountability process” is going to be carried out in good faith.

I also think the existing criminal courts and prosecutors hold police reasonably accountable. They could do better.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#358
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a freeway about a mile from my house. Summer nights with the windows open, I can easily be awakened by a very loud motorcycle. The freeway is raised and I'm in a sort of canyon (no line of sight to freeway, though!!). Maybe the acoustics are just perfect for my bedroom, but I doubt it's just me. There are probably a million people within earshot of this noise. Lest people think I'm a motorcycle hater: I owned…

I live on a little sidestreet next to a highway. The highway is raised (due to being on a steep hill directly behind our place) and has noise barriers installed. By and large, highway traffic is a low, background static, somewhat like the ebb and flow of a more mechanical wind. But, because our sidestreet skips a single traffic light on a parallel street, mororbikes live roaring through it, easily louder that anythin…

I was looking to see if 80db made sense or not as a limit. Looking at these sources: https://alexonautos.com/cabin-noise/

https://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/exactly-how-quiet-are-cars-...

It looks as though 80db would be significantly above the max for a stock car. Although I would probably like to see a tax on any cars sold with over 75db of sound as it's a significant burden on society.

Re: New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars

#360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At some point you have to let people make decisions. You can't "logic" your way out of everything. But... the mistakes! Yeah, so what? What about the mistakes of the rules that a human at the scene is not allowed to overrule? We have that at quite a few workplaces, where employees are not allowed to make any decisions, only work through an algorithm. It's not pretty. Think customer support of very large companies. Or…

To be clear, what is the advantage of discretionary enforcement for traffic offenses? Letting certain people off with a warning even though they broke the law? Why is that a feature and not a bug? Anyway, we do have a way to let humans make these decisions. You can go to court and challenge the ticket.

>Why is that a feature and not a bug?

Because the law and the punishments for breaking it do not reflect how socially acceptable breaking said law tastefully is.

It's easier to just randomly hand out small tickets a few people who are egregious and a few who are unlucky than it is to amass the political capital to find a more consistent solution.

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