Dear Editor I live on a neighborhood street punctuated by two 4-way stops, not a quarter mile apart— and a speed hump. EarStink vehicles speed 40-50mph, popping wheelies, goosing their motors, and stabbing my ears bloody on an otherwise pleasant afternoon. I’m not the only one annoyed apparently. Everyone I’ve talked with—including the Grants police and City Code Enforcer’s office share my feelings. It’s a problem. And it’s a bigger problem than annoyance. It’s unsafe. The 4-way stops, I mentioned? Merely suggestions for these folks.
I’m a good driver and lawabiding citizen; it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where some underaged EarStinker runs into my car, smashes himself up. I lose everything I own and go to jail. Am I being paranoid? Maybe so, but we do have the biggest scofflaw and conman, His Majesty King of Orange, running the country we have a leader who is a daily encouragement for all other scofflaws, bullies, and crappy parents while daring anyone to do anything about it. The cops won’t even go after these guys even though they’re violating the law. They have a no-pursue policy which makes safety sense. So, what do we do, those of us who are law-abiding? Put up with it out of fear? Both the police and Code Enforcer’s office said I should call when I hear/see violations of this sort. I am passing this advice along to you.
If there is enough “fed-upness” and, perhaps an information spreading campaign to let folks know the consequences of continuing to assault the community with their EarStink, maybe we can diminish these assaults on our senses. Parents should be made aware that they are liable for allowing their unlicensed 10-year-old to cruise the public streets on a dirt bike. (The unmuffled 50-year-old “child”, I don’t think we can do anything about.) But kids are being raised to ignore public safety laws. Do we want that? Should we really be surprised? After all, His Majesty of Orange is not exactly the “good neighbor” kind of guy.
B. Johnson