A growing concern in the motorcycle community is the increasing intrusion into the riding lifestyle by federal, state, and local organizations. Safety, toxic emissions, and noise are coming under greater scrutiny and thus more legislation, ordinance, and regulation. Safety is an ongoing issue, well covered in many publications. Emissions and the EPA were discussed in the June '05 issue of HOT BIKE. This article is about noise and noise-emission control.
Motorcycle riders, especially the owners of V-Twin-powered machines, enjoy the sound of their bikes. There's no denying it. That powerful sound satisfies some deep pleasure node buried in the brain. Whether it's a primeval instinct to respect the roar of a king predator or the adrenaline surge that comes from fear of nearby thunder, how can anything so much fun be so controversial? How can anything so essential cause the end of riding as you now know it?
"Secondhand noise" is a phrase that's used in the excessive noise debates. The similarity to another well-known phrase is not a coincidence. The words evoke strong parallels to the smoking debates of the last few decades. That is a very scary thought. Why? Because when "secondhand smoke" became a major health issue, smokers weren't asked to smoke less, to use filters, or to blow the other way. No, they were banned from smoking in both public places and private offices, locations they had previously enjoyed without restriction. Do you think there's an implied threat with this expression?
There are other similarities between the two issues. Smoking wasn't banned in public areas because non-smokers didn't like smoke or were outraged by it or even thought they had a right to a smoke-free area. Disputes along these lines were viewed as a minor difference of opinion or a minor conflict between equal rights. Everyone had the right to either smoke or not to smoke. In the same way, many disputes about noise are viewed as minor disagreements between citizens: a public disturbance of the peace, an irritating nuisance, or disorderly conduct. There are plenty of laws already on the books to cover those generally mild offenses. Any extreme restrictions based on those issues are usually ignored or overturned.
How was smoking banned, and does that story offer any predictions about the future of noise-emission control for motorcyclists? Concern for public health and the associated cost to society prevailed over smoker's rights. More importantly, it was not concern for the health of the smoker, or else all smoking would have been banned. No, it was concern for the health of the involuntary recipient of secondhand smoke. While there may exist a right to choose to damage your own health, no one has the right to inflict harm on others who can't avoid the danger and who suffer from the consequences.