February 2025 I haven't posted on this page for some time, posting and writing elsewhere, and notifying supporters directly about webinars and other events. But Silence the Horns is currently organizing a new letter-writing campaign as part of its International Noise Awareness Day activities, and it's time to update this page more often anyway.
If you've never been here before, please note that the short articles posted below from 2014 through 2019 are opinion pieces, although they include news (at the time they were published) about new automotive initiatives and technology, as well as historical information about automotive technology.
If you're interested in participating in the letter-writing effort and want to learn more about it, please write to request information.
I attend a good number of virtual meetings related to noise, as well as virtual and in-person civic meetings, and often hear two comments that I find troubling. One is the idea that it isn't a good time or the right time to be concerned with noise - especially the kind of noise Silence the Horns addresses. The other comment is that another form of noise - this varies, and may involve helicopters, modified mufflers, or leaf blowers and lawn equipment - but the message is that whatever the noise in question, it's more serious and more deserving of attention than the use of a horn sound to signify locking.
Where timing is concerned, the time will never be perfect. Working with noise activist colleagues, I've had conversations about whether or not the time is right to publish an article, speak at a local civic meeting, or call upon an elected leader - many such conversatations. We've absorbed and internalized the idea that our noise issue - whichever one it is - is not as important as whatever else is going on at any given time. While the response isn't simple, I'll simply say this: it's always the right time to try to engage with others about noise, especially if we're offering a solution. The idea that noise is "annoying" still prevails, but we know that noise disturbs sleep and concentration, and has proven damaging effects over time on the cardiovascular system - in addition to other auditory and non-auditory effects.
Where comparisons of one type of noise versus another is concerned, one doesn't have to be personally affected by a given type of noise to respect the validity of whether or not it is a problem - or its order of importance. I am rarely personally affected by vehicle engine noise, whether modified or not, and almost never personally affected by leaf blower noise - but I respect the work of activists who address these types of noise because science and the law are on their side. And I see how so many people suffer because of their exposure to these forms of noise.
But when I hear these comparisons, I realize something important: I need to do a better job of conveying the array and degree of harms from exposure to the form of vehicle noise that I have been addressing.
