Sssshhh!!!....Young driver's car insurer talking. Show some respect

Young drivers car insurer - 4youngdrivers.com - appreciate that the older you get, the less tolerant of noise you become. Like you, 4youngdrivers.com (the young driver's car insurer) once had a boom box in the place where their brain should have sat. Peacefully. The young driver car insurer also had more speakers than seating arrangements, and had 4youngdrivers.com and their amazing young driver car insurance whacked up the volume control beyond 3 on the super bass dial, the chances are that their young driver car insuring spine would have shattered as a result. The young driver car insurer lost the art of conversation for roughly 4 years, and thought that tinitus was a badge of honour to be worn with pride. So now, as 4youngdrivers.com stare maturer years in the face, it comes as no surprise to learn that noisy cars are the second most irritating neighbourhood noise in a questionnaire thingy. Or so say the study-happy bod's over at the RAC Foundation. Who must be even older than us if that's possible? Being grumpy old men who still drive (quietly) around their manors with a bag of mint humbugs located somewhere on the dash and a shawl on the parcel shelf of their (quiet) car, they're calling (well, demanding in hushed tones) for more considerate motoring to mark Noise Action Week. This week. Which means a young drivers car insurance-related article is almost topical for once.

They are citing the fact that technological improvements mean that the majority of today's vehicles are up to 50% quieter than they were 10 years ago. Unless you go and weld an exhaust with industrial chimney-esque circumferences to the underside of your motor, and pay your local tuner a visit. And they're desperately unhappy that even factory-fitted 8-tracks (car stereos yeah yeah?) have grown ever more powerful with the advent of low frequency bass tubes, coupled with the fact that after-market in-car musical instrumentation has become far more widespread. And in as much, affordable. Infact, bass tubes are name checked on a hit list of noise polluters as the fourth most common source of aural irritation. In this joint survey by Ipsos MORI examining the attitudes to environmental noise carried out for Noise Action Week has found that loud cars in general were the second most commonly reported source of noise in the UK this year, and gave us the following fascinating facts to sit up and take notice of;

*15% of people reported being annoyed by cars noises. You know the sort with vocal sprogs and Alsatians that dedicate their waking hours to incessant barking.

*14 % of people reported being annoyed by car or burglar alarms. The sort that don't own a car, or have anything in their house worth nicking.

*5% of people reported being annoyed by the sounds of DIY or car repairs. The sort that have the fiscal wherewithal to employ someone else to do it for them. In overalls.

These finding were in stark (almost) comparison to an equivalent pole conducted in 2003, where noisy cars were seventh in a similar list.

Its common knowledge that driving with the windows down, and the volume pumped up to the max, has become a summer tradition in many parts of the UK . Usually in the vicinity of barely-clad laydees and fellow pimped-motored perv's taking in the seasonal views. But what's this incoming? Motorists may be putting themselves at risk! At risk of what you may ask? Other than a stiff neck and assorted other body parts. Well, of an accident for starters. Previous research by the RAC Foundation (in between rolling tobacco and re-living old motoring tales that they keep in their biscuit tins) found that drivers who were listening to music with a 'fast, and hypnotic beat controlling their limp bodies' (my well chosen words - not Grandpa's) were twice as likely to go through a red light. And have twice as many accidents through doing so. They also ran the distinct risk of going deaf. As a typical car stereo can produce 110 dB. Which may mean nothing to you until told that anyone hearing noise levels of more than 85dB for 8 hours a day can expect to develop hearing loss. Especially around women. And of course, run the risk of the old favourite. Of getting an ASBO. Under the Police Reform Act 2002, local police forces are within their right to serve ASBOs banning drivers from certain roads. And Of having their equipment confiscated by Environmental Health - under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Which states that 'loud music from stationary vehicles may be defined as a statutory nuisance', thus giving Environmental Health Officers powers to serve abatement notices, impose fines or confiscate the audio equipment. Up to the discretion of and all that jazz. And so on and so forth.

Its been suggested that other options available to the authorities will soon include a speed camera-like system, which has been developed, and currently having trials in, Australia, which can detect loud subwoofers, a noisy exhaust or an untimely honk of the horn and automatically issue a ticket. Ever the comedians, the laugh-a-lifetime RAC Foundation has compiled a list of tracks they think you should seek to avoid for the sake of the neighbours. Not to mention any remnants of your street cred.

1. Will Smith - "Boom! Shake the Room!"

2. Bryan Adams - "Waking up the Neighbours"

3. The Casualties - "Sounds from the Streets"

4. Pavarotti - "Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep)"

5. Dirty Pretty Things - "Bang Bang You're Dead"

And suggests motorists might try these instead - albeit quietly:

1. Eurythmics - "Sweet Dreams are Made of This"

2. The Tremoloes - "Silence is Golden"

3. Simon and Garfunkel - "The Sound of Silence"

4. Deep Purple - "Hush"

5. Small Faces - "Lazy Sunday Afternoon"

They've even turned to audio experts for their backing on the subject, who advise that turning the volume down a little puts less strain on the amplifier, giving better sound and less distortion anyway.

Its to our old (Methuselah probably) chum, Edmund King, Executive Director of the RAC Foundation we go to summarise, and holding no punches (just a clay pipe) he uttered this; "We are fully supportive of the objectives of Noise Action Week, campaigning for a quieter, more tranquil UK, and would encourage decibel-loving drivers to resist the temptation to pump up the volume - not only is loud music a nuisance to others, it could also be the cause of accidents on the roads. Although the decrease in reaction time from playing loud music translates into mere fractions of a second, on the UK 's busy roads, this reduction could mean the difference between a hit or a miss. We already know that continuous exposure to high levels of noise represents a real health risk, causing stress, hypertension and also potential hearing loss. We would ask motorists to be responsible when driving and not put lives at risk for the sake of blasting out the latest tunes."

Cheers for that Ed, we must remember to have a little chat again sometime. Possibly when hell freezes over. You don't have to wait that long to grab yourselves some young driver's car insurance mind, as 4youngdrivers.com has plenty of that up their young driver car insuring elasticated cuffs right this minute. Call us if you want, on a number found somewhere on this site.

Date - 15/09/2006