Cities are too loud. We can fix that.
![A city.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zHN9HFPovpFhbmdSNacTYC-415-80.jpg)
Does the sound of traffic outside your window make you want to hide? On Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a bill that could help. The new law increases penalties for modifications that make cars louder. It also requires inspections for motorcycles to make sure they're not configured for "loud pipes."
The New York law is just a small step toward addressing a serious problem. Noise pollution is easily dismissed as a minor annoyance. But scientists argue there are serious health effects of exposure to loud sounds. There's a reason construction and factory workers often wear protective earmuffs.
Humans aren't the only ones hurt by excessive noise. Researchers found that birds produced quieter and more complicated songs when the pandemic reduced traffic. It makes sense. People also struggle to communicate in decibel levels that approach a jet engine.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The obvious objection to the New York law and other measures to combat noise pollution is that they interfere with individual rights. Americans treasure the freedom to drive where, how, and what they want. But there's no right to make your neighbors sick in predictable and systematic ways. Modifying vehicles for extra noise is more like dumping sewage in the river than cranking the speakers on your favorite song.
Motor vehicles aren't the only culprit, of course. Off the roads, some jurisdictions restrict the use of leafblowers. Those regulations are controversial and not always enforced. But the fact they're on the books encourages technical innovation and more careful use. That's an improvement if not a solution.
Now if only my local authorities would find the courage to crack down on amplified buskers who turn already busy streets into a cacophonous ordeal ...
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Samuel Goldman is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also an associate professor of political science at George Washington University, where he is executive director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and director of the Politics & Values Program. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard and was a postdoctoral fellow in Religion, Ethics, & Politics at Princeton University. His books include God's Country: Christian Zionism in America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018) and After Nationalism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021). In addition to academic research, Goldman's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.
-
Quiz of The Week: 20 - 26 July
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: The dark world of illicit gambling
Podcast Plus, the pension pot shortfall and Obama's silence on Harris
By The Week Staff Published
-
Leonora Carrington: Rebel Visionary – an exhibition of 'unearthly delights'
The 'captivating' show features over 70 pieces spanning everything from paintings to tapestries
By The Week UK Published
-
ICJ ruling: will 'damning verdict' stop Netanyahu?
Talking Point The UN's top court has ruled Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories breaks international law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
How Biden's enablers may have delayed his bowing out
Talking Points Joe Biden's inner circle faces calls for a reckoning for allegedly shielding the president — and the public — from questions of aging and electoral viability
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
The Democrats 'resigned to a second Trump presidency'
Talking Points Did the assassination attempt end Biden's election chances?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Venezuela election: first vote in a decade offers hope to poverty-stricken nation
The Explainer Nicolás Maduro agreed to 'free and fair' vote but poor polling and threat of prosecution pushes disputed leader to desperate methods
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Are down-ticket Democrats doomed?
Talking Points President Joe Biden's refusal to step back from his reelection campaign has some local Democrats wondering if their own races are in trouble — but not everyone is worried
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The Tamils stranded on 'secretive' British island in Indian Ocean
Under the Radar Migrants 'unlawfully detained' since 2021 shipwreck on UK-controlled Diego Garcia, site of important US military base
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published