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Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

oregonlive.com

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Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#41

Post by pc86 »

throwway120385 wrote: post #28
noodlesUK wrote: post #19

Whilst I seriously doubt that this will be regularly or universally enforced, I think that gas powered gardening and construction equipment is incredibly loud and annoying, and that especially in built-up areas it's not really acceptable where good alternatives exist. Noise pollution is usually very avoidable, and it can be quite disruptive and sometimes damaging to health. Further, where I live (in the UK), there ne…

We have the same problem where I live in the US. When I get some free time I'm going to lobby our state congress to have the sale of them banned, because it's the only way to get people to stop installing them. There is a law against driving them but it's impossible to enforce because there's no means of measuring the sound and associating it with the vehicle quickly enough to enforce it. I'd love to have an ALPR sys…

Noise enforcement is a normal thing in areas that want to enforce it. It happens exactly the same way speed enforcement happens, the officer has a device that measures it and can present that information in court if the other party disputes it.

The problem for both noise and speed enforcement is entirely a problem of will. Some jurisdictions simply don't care, or just do targeted enforcement to drive revenue but not actually change driving habits. Do any driving around the country and you'll see areas where people regularly drive 20mph over the speed limit and areas where people barely go 5 over.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#42

Post by pbmonster »

throwway120385 wrote: post #28
noodlesUK wrote: post #19

Whilst I seriously doubt that this will be regularly or universally enforced, I think that gas powered gardening and construction equipment is incredibly loud and annoying, and that especially in built-up areas it's not really acceptable where good alternatives exist. Noise pollution is usually very avoidable, and it can be quite disruptive and sometimes damaging to health. Further, where I live (in the UK), there ne…

We have the same problem where I live in the US. When I get some free time I'm going to lobby our state congress to have the sale of them banned, because it's the only way to get people to stop installing them. There is a law against driving them but it's impossible to enforce because there's no means of measuring the sound and associating it with the vehicle quickly enough to enforce it. I'd love to have an ALPR sys…

German police have a what amounts to a dyno mounted on a truck bed, and they pull over suspicious cars and sound check them while an officer goes through the gears on the dyno.

Failing that test is expensive, and you don't see your car again for a few weeks. They revoke your permission to operate the vehicle on public roads, so in addition to the fine, you face fees (towing, storage of car in evidence locker, towing your car to a shop after getting it back in order to make it street legal, then redoing the road-worthiness certification).

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#43

Post by trgn »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #13

Gas-powered leaf blowers could be fine, but 99% of the time they're awful, cheap, horribly-maintained hunks of junk that emit horrible clouds of smoke that just floats at ground level for 15+ minutes. Next up ban non-electric cars in the city limits.

after not visiting for like a decade or so, being back in europe, the presence of electric cars in the city has improved quality of life enormously.

closer to home, one neighbor bought a hybrid, the other an electric truck, and it is so much more calm and quiet.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#46

Post by mc32 »

throwway120385 wrote: post #28
noodlesUK wrote: post #19

Whilst I seriously doubt that this will be regularly or universally enforced, I think that gas powered gardening and construction equipment is incredibly loud and annoying, and that especially in built-up areas it's not really acceptable where good alternatives exist. Noise pollution is usually very avoidable, and it can be quite disruptive and sometimes damaging to health. Further, where I live (in the UK), there ne…

We have the same problem where I live in the US. When I get some free time I'm going to lobby our state congress to have the sale of them banned, because it's the only way to get people to stop installing them. There is a law against driving them but it's impossible to enforce because there's no means of measuring the sound and associating it with the vehicle quickly enough to enforce it. I'd love to have an ALPR sys…

Some of the most annoying offenders are motorbikes who almost see it as an obligation to revv as annoyingly as possible every chance they get on residential neighborhoods.

It’s not all of them. Some ride responsibly but my god, some are extremely good at being the most annoying human beings on earth.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#48

Post by analogpixel »

oooyay wrote: post #5

I actually didn't know this was coming up and just bought an electric. They all kind of suck except for the Ego and the Ego is like $250. Portland has gotten quite a bit more expensive. We've begun rejecting taxes, which as the self-selected second highest taxed city in the nation is new. Our economy has struggled to return post-COVID lockdowns. There's a lot more I could say but people are really feeling the economi…

If you can't afford a leaf blower, you could try using a $10 rake. they usually work better and faster than a leaf blower most of the time anyways.

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#49

Post by jermberj »

oooyay wrote: post #10
dabeeeenster wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh no, I cant annoy everyone in a 500m radius for 20 minutes once a week by blowing all the leaves that have fallen into my garden into my neighbours garden. Did I get it right?

My point was you can still buy the gas ones in the store and they're substantially cheaper than the Ego I bought. I live in East Portland, which is why I was talking about cost. I wish the kind of suburban problems you're describing are what we deal with.

Howdy, fellow east Portlander, you might be interested in this: https://www.eptl.toollibrarian.net/TL/ourtools.php.

They have 5 electric leaf blowers available right now. You mentioned you already bought one, but perhaps you could share this info with some of your friends or neighbors to save them the cost. :)

Re: Portland's gas-powered leaf blower ban goes into effect

#50

Post by boringg »

noodlesUK wrote: post #19

Whilst I seriously doubt that this will be regularly or universally enforced, I think that gas powered gardening and construction equipment is incredibly loud and annoying, and that especially in built-up areas it's not really acceptable where good alternatives exist. Noise pollution is usually very avoidable, and it can be quite disruptive and sometimes damaging to health. Further, where I live (in the UK), there ne…

What I find interesting about this ban: probably mostly makes sense in the for city for low workloads however the electric blowers (even the good ones that I am sure the city isn't paying for) are underpowered for real work leaf workloads. They operate as a midlevel gas powered blower.

As someone who is on board with electrify as much as possible - I still see where there are limitations and chokepoints.

Though for noise pollution makes a lot of sense.

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