Is it me, or are autos, trucks and motorcycles getting louder?

With the pandemic fading into the rearview mirror, it’s time to address other matters, like interruptions of my afternoon naps.

Recently, some of my catnaps have been shattered by the blat-blat-blat of loud vehicles, mostly pick-up trucks. We may be having difficulty agreeing on things these days, but can we agree that this form of noise pollution has gotten out of hand?

I do not know when the trend of removing factory-installed mufflers began, and I do not know why it has become so widespread here. Trucks are the prime culprits, but it seems that some street cars, Ford Mustangs in particular, are also very noisy.

Why vehicle owners feel the need to hear and feel their vehicles thunder is anybody’s guess. The noise level varies from very loud to ear shattering.

When I was three years old, my tricycle roared, tongue flapping in the breeze. When I was 10, I clothes-pinned my Mickey Mantle rookie card to my bike spokes for feedback.

I assume that governments are hogtied to curb this type of noise pollution, and existing noise ordinances are not up to the job. To legislate and enforce an excessive vehicle noise ordinance would be nearly impossible: It would amount to a “driving-while-white” law.

Such a noise ordinance would be a blatant government intrusion on our First Amendment rights, the nanny state telling us to hush, the cancel culture at work.

I can fall back on one consolation. All these good old boys will be driving noiseless electric trucks in the very near future (LOL).

Before that happens, I would ask the boys to be good neighbors and let up on the gas pedal in residential neighborhoods. Remember your manners fellas.

Scott Bigelow

Lumberton