Pandemic or not, it will soon be spring. We will be able to open our windows and give free rein to our desire to visit our magnificent parks and our pretty villages in Quebec. The holiday season is already getting organised, reservations for resort and camping stays are soaring.
Posted at 5:00 p.m.
The return of good weather unfortunately has its drawbacks for most of the population who aspire to go green in peace. Noise pollution is a growing scourge all over the world, including here.
The nuisances are numerous, but motorized vehicles certainly remain the greatest source of unwanted noise in the public space.
There are of course the horn concerts used as a weapon of intimidation or protest. The citizens of Ottawa and Quebec have had a taste of it recently with the demonstrations by truck drivers. Not to mention the excessive use of the same horn on a daily basis by many motorists to confirm the locking and unlocking of their doors, at any time of the day or night.
But there is worse, everywhere on our country roads and in town, especially during the summer months. I mean cars and motorbikes whose exhaust emits a more or less infernal din.
It is sometimes due to a mechanical defect, but most often because the muffler in question has been modified, to the point of radically changing its vocation and losing its name…
I wouldn’t be surprised if Quebec holds a world record in this very un-Olympic discipline.
Our police departments seem reluctant to enforce existing regulations that are supposed to protect us from these abuses committed by a minority of hardliners. Even in regions where the problem is particularly present, there are few police operations aimed at controlling the noise level with issuing statements of offense to offenders. The agents prefer to wait for formal complaints from citizens to carry out specific interventions.
Mechanical inspection
This laxity is largely explained by the obvious lack of political will. So, how to explain that the Government of Quebec, unlike its neighbor Ontario, did not see fit to adopt a mandatory mechanical inspection program for the entire vehicle fleet? This would help discourage tampering with exhaust pipes and promote better overall vehicle maintenance.
Perhaps our Minister of Transport, on his vacation with his family, should one day find himself stuck in the middle of a peloton of backfiring motorcycles for him to realize the extent of the inconvenience this causes .
Or that his meal on the terrace of a charming restaurant is disrupted by the arrival of such a platoon, all dressed in black leather, seizing the last tables available.
To justify themselves, noisy motorcyclists often invoke their economic contribution to the businesses of the localities where they stop on the way. But what about the peaceful clientele that their mere presence scares away?