St. Louis Passes Sweeping Car Confiscation Ordinance
- Thread starter acemcmac
- Start date
Queasy
Moderator<br>Console Gaming
- Aug 24, 2001
- 31,796
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They could have skipped the installation and possession bit and just gone with the noise ordnance bit. I'm tired of the idiots thinking they are cool with the booming cars but I don't see any reason to make it illegal to own the speakers.
Premium sound systems are a necessity if you're going to be on the highway with the windows down, but it's not like anyone else can hear you over the wind noise 
I don't understand what number of speakers has to do with anything... There are some loud ass hoopties with just 4 speakers in the car and 2 subwoofers in the trunk.
Mermaidman
Diamond Member
- Sep 4, 2003
- 7,987
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More details:
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/D061B0AA2DE28EB586257103007D7B5C?OpenDocument">St. Louis police will be able to seize cars blasting loud music under a bill passed today by the Board of Aldermen.
The bill mirrors laws in other cities, prohibiting the use and even installation of some enhanced speakers.
Alderman Craig Schmid?s proposal easily had enough votes to pass, but not after aldermen turned up the volume on their own concerns. Impounding a car for playing loud music is to severe, opponents said, and ripe for abuse.
?God damn it ?- it?s America,? Alderman Stephen Conway said. ?We?ve got a constitution.?
Schmid said he wanted to send a ?strong message? to drivers who cruise through residential areas, jarring neighbors and rattling windows.
?I analogize it to auditory graffiti,? Schmid said.
Other aldermen said loud music coming from cars is among their top complaints from constituents. The music gets so loud, Alderman Dionne Flowers, that when ?you?re in bed, you fall out.?
The bill prohibits operating car stereo equipment that creates ?louder volume than is necessary for convenient, normal hearing,? which is the same language as the city?s current anti-noise ordinance.
But the new law outlaws possessing or installing any car stereo with a speaker over a foot in diameter; having more than one speaker 10 inches in diameter; more than 10 speakers overall; more than two amplifiers; and any amplifier over 300 watts.
In addition to impounding the car, possible penalties include a minimum of $250 fine on the first offense and $500 on subsequent offenses within a year.
Aldermen complained that the law was heavy-handed. Stephen Gregali, who represents the 14th Ward, questioned whether police would get rulers to measure the length of speakers.
?It?s like killing an ant with a howitzer,? Alderman Charles Q. Troupe said.
Bob Pfeiffer, who has been installing custom car stereos for 23 years in St. Louis, said the law could destroy his business.
?I might as well lock my doors now,? said Pfeiffer, who operates Automotion Alarm and Car Stereo on N. Broadway.
Not all ?tricked out? stereos are used for cruising and thumping music, Pfeiffer said. His clients include jazz musicians.
?What a crock,? Pfeiffer said. ?It?s really a bogus bill.?</a>
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/D061B0AA2DE28EB586257103007D7B5C?OpenDocument">St. Louis police will be able to seize cars blasting loud music under a bill passed today by the Board of Aldermen.
The bill mirrors laws in other cities, prohibiting the use and even installation of some enhanced speakers.
Alderman Craig Schmid?s proposal easily had enough votes to pass, but not after aldermen turned up the volume on their own concerns. Impounding a car for playing loud music is to severe, opponents said, and ripe for abuse.
?God damn it ?- it?s America,? Alderman Stephen Conway said. ?We?ve got a constitution.?
Schmid said he wanted to send a ?strong message? to drivers who cruise through residential areas, jarring neighbors and rattling windows.
?I analogize it to auditory graffiti,? Schmid said.
Other aldermen said loud music coming from cars is among their top complaints from constituents. The music gets so loud, Alderman Dionne Flowers, that when ?you?re in bed, you fall out.?
The bill prohibits operating car stereo equipment that creates ?louder volume than is necessary for convenient, normal hearing,? which is the same language as the city?s current anti-noise ordinance.
But the new law outlaws possessing or installing any car stereo with a speaker over a foot in diameter; having more than one speaker 10 inches in diameter; more than 10 speakers overall; more than two amplifiers; and any amplifier over 300 watts.
In addition to impounding the car, possible penalties include a minimum of $250 fine on the first offense and $500 on subsequent offenses within a year.
Aldermen complained that the law was heavy-handed. Stephen Gregali, who represents the 14th Ward, questioned whether police would get rulers to measure the length of speakers.
?It?s like killing an ant with a howitzer,? Alderman Charles Q. Troupe said.
Bob Pfeiffer, who has been installing custom car stereos for 23 years in St. Louis, said the law could destroy his business.
?I might as well lock my doors now,? said Pfeiffer, who operates Automotion Alarm and Car Stereo on N. Broadway.
Not all ?tricked out? stereos are used for cruising and thumping music, Pfeiffer said. His clients include jazz musicians.
?What a crock,? Pfeiffer said. ?It?s really a bogus bill.?</a>
Linflas
Lifer
- Jan 30, 2001
- 15,395
- 78
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And yet everytime another one of these "camel's nose under the tent" type laws bending the constitution is passed "to help the children" or some other supposedly noble purpose people insist there is no slippery slope. If you can confiscate property for drug possesion or DUI then it really isn't a stretch to extend it to anything some assinine lawmaker wants to make his pet cause of the moment.
agreed. you have every right to listen to any music you want, you just don't have the right to pump it so loud that i can hear it 10 cars down and my car shakes from the bass you are producing.
not a bad law overall tho. if it reduces that kind of noise pollution i'm all for it.
That is seriously asinine, but I can't see it being enforced EXCEPT when someone is being a nuisance. They aren't going to put up roadblocks & count speakers.
I would be curious though how many of our more left leaning members here would cry foul for this but still want to take away my guns...
Viper GTS
I would be curious though how many of our more left leaning members here would cry foul for this but still want to take away my guns...
Viper GTS
TheToOTaLL
Platinum Member
- Oct 7, 2001
- 2,246
- 2
- 0
Let's see what happens when the cops impound the luxury car of a St Louis civil liberties lawyer. All hell will break loose.
What is a nuisance and not a nuisance? I drive a 1990 Nissan beater, and it is an eyesore. The cd player barely works so it I never listen to music in the car. But if the previous owner had installed a 400 watt amp, maybe some hot shot cop who thought he had something would pull me over and settle for the car audio violation when he couldn't find any drugs...
Can someone point out the clause or amendment in the constitution which grants me the right to have 11 speakers and forbids cities from disallowing it? I'm just curious where that notion came from, because I'm fairly certain you will find no such wording anywhere.
That aside, this is a totally absurd ordinance that makes virtually no sense. If your goal is to stop cars from blasting loud music, how will this help? Are they going to have cops randomly pull over vehicles or peek inside windows to count the number of speakers? The best way to catch people who are violating the ordinance is still to follow the guy whose car is blasting bass. How does this help??
That aside, this is a totally absurd ordinance that makes virtually no sense. If your goal is to stop cars from blasting loud music, how will this help? Are they going to have cops randomly pull over vehicles or peek inside windows to count the number of speakers? The best way to catch people who are violating the ordinance is still to follow the guy whose car is blasting bass. How does this help??
This law is RETARDED.
I have no issue with a NOISE ordinance that has penalties for LOUD NOISE.
This law is like Taking away my Portable DVD player that I use on flights because I COULD USE it when driving.
I have no issue with a NOISE ordinance that has penalties for LOUD NOISE.
This law is like Taking away my Portable DVD player that I use on flights because I COULD USE it when driving.
Amendment IV:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
I bolded the relevant parts for you :roll:
How would you like your car to be declared illegal next month and siezed without your input...
This is an asinine law, but its one thats not going to really be able to be enforced. What, are they gonna tear apart cars alongside the freeway to count the speakers?
The dumbest part about them focusing on luxury vehicles is the fact that they would be less likely to be a cause for disturbance as they (or should) feature better sound isolation than other vehicles.
This is one of those idiotic pre-emptive laws that thinks by getting rid of what the lawmakers percieve as a cause for a certain problem, that it will prevent the problem from happening, but it really in effect doesn't do much if anything about the real problem.
The dumbest part about them focusing on luxury vehicles is the fact that they would be less likely to be a cause for disturbance as they (or should) feature better sound isolation than other vehicles.
This is one of those idiotic pre-emptive laws that thinks by getting rid of what the lawmakers percieve as a cause for a certain problem, that it will prevent the problem from happening, but it really in effect doesn't do much if anything about the real problem.
skyking
Lifer
- Nov 21, 2001
- 22,640
- 5,749
- 146
I have a neighbor who comes down the road at 2~3 AM blasting that bass.
It was like the artillery range was way off target, it was so loud.:disgust:
I went out and asked him politely to turn that down when he gets into the neighborhood, and it worked! He rarely forgets now.
It was like the artillery range was way off target, it was so loud.:disgust:
I went out and asked him politely to turn that down when he gets into the neighborhood, and it worked! He rarely forgets now.
Way to bite the hand that feeds them.....idiots. The people that donate money to the political compaigns probably all drive luxury cars with premium audio in them.
Demon-Xanth
Lifer
- Feb 15, 2000
- 20,551
- 2
- 81
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