To the Editor
(Re: “Noisy motorcycles save lives”, July 28 Advance)
If noise from obnoxious motorcycles saves lives, we should start equipping bicycles, go-scooters, buggies, skateboards, pedestrians walking on the road where there are no sidewalks, and so on with huge noise making speakers.
We all want to prevent accidents. At the same time, let’s note that most motorcycles accidents involve lone high-speed adventurers going off road or hitting larger vehicles! Did their machine's noise drown out noise from a dangerous vehicle?
At the same time, why not equip our pets (and their owners) with amplifiers and speakers at the decibel level of a Harley in case they should be run over by a ‘hard of hearing’ driver. Are the cycle drivers wearing earplugs so the noise doesn’t bother them? Or is the juvenile thrill of loud, powerful noise worth the damage to the driver’s hearing, let alone ours?
In a credible examination, it is vision, rather than hearing, that prevents collisions.
Larry Ewashen
Creston