Here comes the crushing hand of government…
Back in the day cruising down Main Street in your local town was considered pretty much harmless fun. However, since the 1990s there has been an increasing movement to quashsuch activity, the latest example coming from Boise, Idaho.
Check out the Motorious Podcast here.
According to a report from Idaho Statesman, the Boise City Council is using a revision to the municipal traffic laws to stop people from cruising through downtown on warm summer nights. Among the reasons cited for wanting to stop cruising is noise, dangerous driving, and pollution. Yep, the Boise City Council is going to save the planet by stop young people from cruising around in their Mustang.
The way this practice of cruising is described in the report, it sounds like downtown Boise is taken over by the cast of Mad Max: Fury Roadwhat with all the loud music, crazy light effects, and overall scofflaw nature.
“It shouldn’t be illegal to drive your car in a circle, and it should be illegal to drive your car in a circle like a jerk,” Council Member Patrick Bageant said at the meeting. Has anyone told this guy about street takeovers? It could be so much worse.
One person told the city council that some businesses have changed their hours because of the cruising practice. From the sound of things, cruising is apparently a new event in Boise. That sounds pretty amazing considering it was a thing in many other areas since the 50s if not the 60s and continued strong into this century. Is Boise really that far behind the times?
Anyway, stopping this hooligan behavior will involve targeting specific behaviors since a city government can’t target citizens for simply driving down a road. Supposedly. The city council has imposed restrictions on engine revving, playing “amplified music,” loud exhausts, “excessive fumes” from cars, smoke, exhausts “creating a noise similar to gunfire” (we can’t make this up), and rolling coal.
Anyone caught doing any of the prohibited things risks a fine upwards of $300, although picking up two exhaust-related fines could mean a fine of up to $1,000 and six months in jail.
Source: Idaho Statesman
Images via YouTube
