Your problem is that you listen to NPR instead of music.
20 plus minutes is out of line - and I would consider that a public nuisance. One could always call the highway patrol and report the offender. The loud noise during crowded traffic conditions could be considered a road hazard.
My EE friend was quite serious. I don’t have an opinion, it’s beyond my expertise. Perhaps an acoustics engineer will be along to confirm or deny. 
I don’t think it’s possible to produce bass speakers that cannot produce sound below a certain frequency. Perhaps the signal being fed to them could be filtered with a sharp bass cutoff. Dunno if that would suffice.
Reread the original post and think about.
People who like loud music are ignorant wankers? That’s ridiculous. I love loud music, and I love the feeling of fresh air in my hair as I’m driving. Maybe those things go hand-in-hand because of the personality of the people who do it. Free spirits perhaps, people who like to indulge their senses…etc.
And I don’t see how it’s that inconsiderate. It’s on the streets, fer chrissakes. It’s not like it’s next door to you, pounding in your ears incessantly. You hear it for a few seconds and then you move on.
Sorry, UrbanChic, but I’m with Silenus on this one. I submit that you have an unalienable right to listen to your music as loud as you want, provided it doesn’t cause problems for others. But the minute it interferes with my (or anyone else’s) enjoyment of their own music/radio/conversation, you’re being a disrespectful ass.
I actually have a piece of cardboard in my car that I have been known to hold out the window that says “Your music sucks, your stereo is too damn loud, and I’m sorry you have a tiny penis.” I also have several other signs, including “I hope you only kill yourself driving like that, asshole” and “Shut up and drive, motherfucker.” I really have a problem with bad drivers.
I don’t recommend this course of action for most people unless you are fairly intimidating looking (I’m 6’, 230 with long hair and beard, very broad shoulders and an evil glare)
If you want to enjoy your music loud, roll up the windows or put on some headphones.
Heh, Indygirl, if you could only see my musical collection or hear the stereos I have in my car and home. I adore Classic Rock from AC/DC to Zep and have undoubtably done myself some harm from the level at which it at times has been played.
Yet, I’ve also made an effort not to be an annoying nuisance to others in the process.
FTR, not that it’s germane to the overall arguement but I did make every effort on all three roads today to distance myself from the offender. Each time he ended up right behind me again. Bugger.
I really like these! Well done!
I no longer commute by car - I don’t miss the way some idiots drive.
That’s the problem in a nutshell. No consideration for others whatsoever. Your right to listen to music ends when it overpowers my radio, in my car, with the windows shut. At that point it becomes assault, and my fervent wish that the offender gets ticketed at the very least.
The bass cut-off sounds like a good idea. Is it workable?
Really, is this that important an issue? Is it negatively impacting your life in any real way?
I just think there are about a million more issues that actually mean something that we should be worrying ourselves over. Not whether someone occasionally plays their music too loudly for you as you pass them in traffic.
Good point. Are a few aberrations material enough to warrant a public policy effort?
Any one of us could come up with numerous things which we find to be an assault upon our sensibilities. A little tolerance is not a bad thing.
Actually, these assholes do rattle the windows in my home, at four in the morning. I can’t move on. And for some reason they like to sit at the stop sign 40 feet from my house, for minutes at a time. My guess is it’s because they like to be ignorant fucktard assholes and piss people off.
Well, I think the idea would be to roll off frequencies that can’t fit inside the vehicle. The occupant couldn’t hear them anyway.
Let’s say a car interior is, oh, 2.5 meters in length. If the speed of sound is 340m/s (25c @ 50% humidity), then the shortest wavelength that could fit in that car would be 138hz. This seems like much too high a rolloff frequency to me. Either that, or I’ve botched the math. I’d think a 138hz rolloff would make an audible difference in bass response inside the vehicle, which I think we’re trying to avoid.
This type of behavior crosses the line. When it intrudes on one’s home - then there is justification to report them to the police as a public nuisance.
Just last night I was talking on the phone in the living room (back of the house) and a car drove by my bedroom windows (front of the house) with its radio on so loud I couldn’t hear the person on the phone.
For the umpteenth time, I thought, “It’s a damn good thing I don’t have a shoulder-mounted missile launcher . . .”
I would say that’s the exception, rather than the rule, for those of us who drive with our stereos cranked up. It does, indeed, seem like they’re trying to get attention and be general pains in the ass.
If that’s happening, you should probably make a complaint for violation of the noise ordinance in your neighborhood. That goes beyond just driving around playing loud music. But, I still wouldn’t support any legislation regarding stereo equipment or anything else that has been suggested.
Extreme cases are a horrible basis for laws which affect the broad population.
I’ve started a new thread here regarding audible bass frequencies v. listening space.
I’m not so sure they’re extreme cases. It might not usually happen at 4:00 am but almost every evening we hear someone going by our normally very quiet neighborhood with booming music they’re willingly blaring into everyone’s home. I hear it on probably every other commute, although thankfully not for the length of today’s public concert.
What’s wrong with a reasoned and restrained (read focused) solution that reduces public frustration, increases safety and isn’t a measurable inconvenience to the offender?
picker, when I win the lottery, I’m hiring you to drive me around. Name your price.
I just don’t feel that more laws are the solution. I’m pretty much against most new laws, especially ones like this that are completely unnecessary.
What are the statistics that prove that driving while listening is so dangerous? I can still hear horns, trains, ambulances, etc. when I have my music up. And I’ve never had an accident as a result of loud music.