Like To Blast Your Radio? You May Be Fined
Suburb Cracking Down On Loud Noise
POSTED: 5:48 p.m. EDT September 30, 2002
BEREA, Ohio -- If you're playing your music too loud in your car, it's a crime in one local suburb.
Live On Five Investigator Jodi Brooks reported on the law in Berea.
Some people play music loud enough that their mirrors shake.
"I think it's rude, obtrusive and intrusive," resident David Frank said.
Alonzo Stewart is one driver who likes to play loud music.
"It's not head banging, you know -- outrageous," he said. "What I listen to is mellow. As far as everybody else, I have no idea."
Stewart's sound system in his vehicle includes three 12-inch woofers, two amplifiers and a mixer for bass and treble. His music would likely be too loud for the city of Berea, where a loud car stereo ordinance is in effect.
"I think it's distracting, and I think we did the right thing by introducing and passing the ordinance," Berea Mayor Joseph Biddlecombe said.
A driver will get a ticket if his or her music is audible at a distance of 50 feet away. And a police officer needs "not to determine the particular words or phrases" of the music.
The ordinance is now 2 years old. Last year, police issued 29 loud stereo tickets, and so far this year, there have been 33 issued.
Stewart doesn't want a ticket, and he admitted that his stereo is not for the side streets.
"No police -- I don't want no problem with nobody," he said. "It's all on the highway. Every once in a while, I play it on the street, but I don't play it as loud as it will go. I just play it so I can enjoy (it)."
The previous noise ordinance in Berea used to specify decibels.
Police said that was too cumbersome and hard to enforce.
The penalty now for a first offense is a $100 fine. The penalty for a second offense is a $250 fine and up to 30 days in jail.
Live On Five Investigator Jodi Brooks reported on the law in Berea.
Some people play music loud enough that their mirrors shake.
"I think it's rude, obtrusive and intrusive," resident David Frank said.
Alonzo Stewart is one driver who likes to play loud music.
"It's not head banging, you know -- outrageous," he said. "What I listen to is mellow. As far as everybody else, I have no idea."
Stewart's sound system in his vehicle includes three 12-inch woofers, two amplifiers and a mixer for bass and treble. His music would likely be too loud for the city of Berea, where a loud car stereo ordinance is in effect.
"I think it's distracting, and I think we did the right thing by introducing and passing the ordinance," Berea Mayor Joseph Biddlecombe said.
A driver will get a ticket if his or her music is audible at a distance of 50 feet away. And a police officer needs "not to determine the particular words or phrases" of the music.
The ordinance is now 2 years old. Last year, police issued 29 loud stereo tickets, and so far this year, there have been 33 issued.
Stewart doesn't want a ticket, and he admitted that his stereo is not for the side streets.
"No police -- I don't want no problem with nobody," he said. "It's all on the highway. Every once in a while, I play it on the street, but I don't play it as loud as it will go. I just play it so I can enjoy (it)."
The previous noise ordinance in Berea used to specify decibels.
Police said that was too cumbersome and hard to enforce.
The penalty now for a first offense is a $100 fine. The penalty for a second offense is a $250 fine and up to 30 days in jail.
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