Good morning folks! About a year ago I wrote a column about silence, how golden it can be, as the cliche has it, and how enjoyable it is to have escaped the 24-hour-a-day city noise for rural silence. Today I follow that up:

A trend

There is a rapidly growing trend across Canada and North America to force governments, particularly municipal ones, to curb unnecessary noise pollution. The vast majority of people joining this trend - it is controversial, particularly thanks to those who like to make gratuitous noise - are not wild-eyed radicals with unreasonable demands. Common sense prevails. Whenever you have a large number of people living, playing and working in one place - a city - there is going to be much more noise than in a rural community of a few hundred people. There are more cars, more businesses, and more industry. There are more frequent airplanes overhead, more trucks and trains. And there are more emergency vehicles racing hither and yon more frequently. That stuff isn't the target of anti-noise efforts for the most part; that's just part of the package of city living.

Gratuitous

What is a target - and there have been discussions and pressure for restrictions in Metro Moncton and across New Brunswick - is gratuitous noise that's easy to avoid. We're talking aftermarket exhaust pipes on motorcycles that make them louder than jet engines during takeoff, similar 'pipes' on souped up cars and trucks, and vehicles with sound systems that are so loud (particularly the bass) that they literally vibrate second storey windows in nearby buildings (I've seen and heard it happen many times in Moncton).

But that's not necessarily all. Sound systems in apartments that are as bad as those in cars are just as large a nuisance; so are leaf blowers and lawn mowers if operated at inappropriate times of day (6 a.m. or midnight, for example). A long-time complaint that has never been satisfactorily resolved despite efforts to do so using gentle persuasion rather than laws, is the use of 'Jake brakes' or engine brakes in heavy trucks passing through or near residential areas.

These can be incredibly noisy, particularly if the truck's exhaust system is poorly muffled (a 'Jake brake' or 'Jacobs Brake' is a trade name and the company does make systems that are not noisy). You will find disagreement about whether such brakes are even necessary, but the consensus seems to be that under most conditions, they are not. They can, however, help on particularly steep inclines, reducing wear and likelihood of failure of wheel brakes. Most residential areas giving rise to complaints are not near such hills.

Controversy

Controversy exists. Invariably, those who for whatever reason (I'd just as soon stay away from motive and mudslinging), resort to engine brakes and using loud pipes defend their preferences vigourously. Some use the freedoms argument; in the case of motorcycles some argue it's a safety issue and lets driver's know the rider is there; some deny it's a problem at all or, if it is one, say it is only a tiny minority and a law shouldn't penalize all; and a few will even admit that they like the attention it brings them as heads turns to watch them roar off, never mind that most of those heads are cursing the attention seeker. In the most obvious cases, the noisemaking community has extremely weak arguments, including the motorcycle safety one -- it may sound like it has logic, but there's no real evidence (a few anecdotes aren't evidence). Some trucking firms prohibit drivers from engine braking, so it can't be too much of a safety issue. The noisemakers are fighting an increasingly losing battle.

Little support

Alberta, in particular, has seen community after community enact anti-noise bylaws, but so to have municipalities across the nation. Bathurst has a bylaw now, for example. Some municipal councillors would prefer if the province put specifics into the Motor Vehicle Act, thus making it consistent everywhere. Whatever the case, this strikes me as very much like the cell phone while driving ban -- it's not all that complicated (those who like noise will do all they can to make it sound complicated), it wouldn't be onerous to bring a little more quiet to everyone, and it would be supported by the vast majority of people. It's a faux controversy -- those opposed can make a lot of political noise, but ultimately represent few. Politicians should show some spine and do the right thing. There are many good templates for such laws. New anti-noise wheels don't need to be invented.

The last word

Here is Walter Bagehot:

"An inability to stay quiet is one of the most conspicuous failings of mankind."

* Norbert Cunningham is a retired editorial page editor with the Times & Transcript. His column appears here daily.