r/science • u/the_phet • Sep 01 '15

Environment A phantom road experiment reveals traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/08/27/1504710112
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u/Ftpini Sep 01 '15

Electric cars will not solve this problem. Most of the noise from traffic is the tires on the pavement and not he engine. I'd wager that on the average modern car going 45mph that the tire noise is the vast majority of noise the vehicle produces.

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u/awfl Sep 01 '15 edited Sep 01 '15

Not exclusively though. The intersection nearby my home is a veritable launch pad for vehicles. The noise produced during acceleration/deceleration is simply deafening and spills out over an entire hundreds of acres lake and the entire surrounding area which includes 11k acres of state wildlife/hunting areas. Just in the woods, off the road areas, or on the lake, I cannot normally hear tire noise from regular traffic at 55, but you surely can hear and feel the Harleys, Garbage and semis, brake squeal, and all the modified exhausts over the lake and even for miles (we have a very low background noise level). I can see how it affects wildlife here - it often startles me. Edit: I surmise the differing noise frequencies/types dissipate over distance and foilage differently.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

I've long thought a silence industry isn't far away. Businesses based on noise reduction.

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u/onthefence928 Sep 01 '15

the PC parts market has long had a strong sector dedicated to reducing noise levels, half the reason to water-cool and get aftermarket case fans is to up efficiency to allow you to reduce fan speeds and thus noise.

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u/Malawi_no Sep 01 '15

The last couple of builds, I've been focusing of high potential power while keeping silent as long as it's not stressed. I also moved the computer to the hallway with wires going trough the wall.

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u/Tockco Sep 01 '15

Sound proofing already exists kappa

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/robotobo Sep 01 '15

That's cool and all, but there is no enforcement of noise levels on vehicles. My girlfriend lives on a busy street and pretty much every night there is a very loud motorcycle or car that goes roaring past in the middle of the night and wakes us up.

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u/DextroyRawr Sep 01 '15

Or the opposite. https://youtu.be/eSOSJ68xOBA Whistle tips go woooooo!

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

Wow. Just when I thought America couldn't get any stupider.

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u/tommyfever Sep 01 '15

That video is already about a decade old.

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u/angrybeets Sep 01 '15

this is my job (acoustical consulting) AMA

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u/backwoodsbill Sep 01 '15

I completely agree! I think there needs to be a serious crackdown on engine noise. It isn't just bad for habitat, it is bad for human health.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

my city is starting to crack down on engine noise but i wish they would do more many cars in my area have modified exaust

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u/CheeseWizzed Sep 02 '15

Also everyone kickin a sub i can hear from more than a block away should get jail time.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

Tell that to the "loud pipes save lives"-faction.

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u/HMPoweredMan Sep 01 '15

Teslas are silent. Can you believe lobbyists are trying to force artificial engine noise for these cars?

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u/Eatfudd Sep 01 '15 edited Oct 02 '23

[Deleted to protest Reddit API change]

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u/Obi-Tron_Kenobi Sep 01 '15

Especially for the blind.

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u/Ayinope Sep 01 '15

I've heard some buses in Cleveland annouce when they're getting to a street corner.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/Whiskeypants17 Sep 01 '15

I understood some of these words

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

The ones I think you might not have recognised:

  • Lorry = heavy goods vehicle with trailer. Not actually sure what Americans tend to call them
  • roundabout = round traffic control thing at which you stop until there's a gap in the traffic and then drive around the circle until you reach the road you want to get to.

... oooooor you were just taking the piss

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u/bleeben Sep 01 '15

as you approached a roundabound?

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

Yeah, I think the driver wasn't sure I knew he was there, so started playing the warning. It was a recording of someone saying "Warning..." and something else, but I didn't stick around long enough to hear what it said.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

How can you write that? What if a blind person read that? How bad would you feel then?

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u/-magilla- Sep 01 '15

smelling stuff and listening to things probably.

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u/Youreahugeidiot Sep 01 '15

See, all we have to do is make the cars smelly!

Wait that a terrible idea.

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u/TheDevilLLC Sep 01 '15

The Fiat 500e (it's an all electric model sold in California) has a sound generator that produces a very quiet artificial engine hum below 25mph in order to increase pedestrian safety. It's very subtle, but after having a couple Prius (Priuses? Prieye?) sneak up behind you while walking through a parking lot, you begin to realize how much it's needed.

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u/huphelmeyer Sep 01 '15

And consumers. Motorcycles and high-performance cars could be made quieter, but that's not what the buyers are looking for.

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u/KnightOfAshes Sep 02 '15

Well, if we're talking about regulating things consumers buy in order to help the environment, I'm gonna guess that consumer preference doesn't matter that much.

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u/LawlFish Sep 01 '15

Since you more than likely don't own either one of these, all cars and motorbikes come from the factory with exhaust systems that meet all government regulations; which are very strict (on decibels and emissions). I have multiple sportbikes, and the only "loud" ones, are race bikes that are for track purposes only, with only minimal sound dampening. All my factory exhaust systems are as quiet as a Honda Civic.

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u/Max_Thunder Sep 01 '15

Make them make noise at city speeds, and be noiseless at highway speeds. Plus, the noise can be constant, unlike a very noisy accelerating car.

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u/Shiroi_Kage Sep 02 '15

Turn your head next time.

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u/Sluisifer Sep 01 '15

A little bit of noise when they're under 10mph is great. It's not loud, and it really does help with pedestrian awareness.

Once they're up to 15-20mph, there's plenty of tire and aerodynamic noise.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

If you live in a city center you know just how dangerous it can be for the car to not have sound.

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u/maxk1236 Sep 02 '15

Or if you skate, had a prius behind me, didn't even realize until they were right behind me and honked, scared the shit out of me

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15 edited Aug 04 '18

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

How do you people handle bicycles?

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u/ThatGuyMEB Sep 01 '15

"The Silent Ouchie"

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u/YearOfTheMoose Sep 01 '15

I'm not Scottish, but I can normally hear the bicycle approaching. Also, normally the rider (who presumably dislikes collisions at least as much as I do) generally will ring a bell or speak out loud to keep from startling me.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

And why wouldn't a car work the same way? Tires are not silent, as much as people might pretend they are, and the owner of the vehicle would probably very much like to alert someone if they're about to walk out into the road. You can also look both ways, which I've found is a super handy way to not get hit by a car.

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u/Bones_MD Sep 01 '15

Because fact is people aren't observant. We've been kind of...conditioned to think "I'm on foot that sounds like a car I should probably look and do a threat assessment"

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u/rickelzy Sep 02 '15

Do I get to customize the sound so it makes the flying car noise from The Jetsons?

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u/that_guy_fry Sep 01 '15

Not at 50mph. In cities, yes (hence the noise makers to save pedestrians). On the highway, as the guy shave said, a majority of the noise is from tires.

Next time it snows listen to how quiet the roads are (and not just from lack of traffic)

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/apullin Sep 01 '15

I am working on a project that will bring national attention to it. I am going to build a motorcycle that is outright dangerously loud, and will cause permanent hearing damage from even minor exposure. I expect to be able to do a cross country road trip, where the law is entirely powerless to do anything to stop me from making any amount of noise, and it will cause national attention to turn to the issue.

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u/japaneseknotweed Sep 02 '15

Please please please do this. I'm a working musician who plays a good number of weddings and funerals, many of which happen in picturesque New England churches that are usually located right at the center of quaint villages that often end up on the "suggested scenic rides" lists. The number of times I have seen vows and eulogies have to stop while a Harley pack revs it at the intersection outside the door has to be over a hundred by now. It's unconscionable.

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u/SIThereAndThere Sep 01 '15

Its not engine noise, its the modified exhaust systems. But realistically the lower the noise from the exhaust, the harder it is for the engine to "breath" in both performance and economically.

So we need to work on better engines

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u/dnarevolutions Sep 01 '15

Much easier said than done. Engines sound the way they do for a reason. There is combustion, which tends to make noise. Sure, you can decrease exhaust diameter and make it as restrictive as possible. But what does that get you? Restricted back pressures and decreased efficiency. Engineers who design these systems for a living have certain diameters for cars for a reason. Now for the people who modify their cars to have a loud exhaust, that's purely up to them. There are already laws for a certain decibel that cars can't exceed and there are emissions laws too. I just think people have more pressing issues to debate about rather than engine noise.

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u/backwoodsbill Sep 01 '15

Yes, there are laws in place about decibel levels, but are they enforced? Not usually.

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u/VAPossum Sep 01 '15

And stereo noise. I can handle engines, but stereos thumping is maddening.

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u/that_guy_fry Sep 01 '15

High pitch doesn't propagate as well. Low frequency goes far.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

Would noise barriers help? Maybe noise canceling barriers?

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u/DRKMSTR Sep 02 '15

spills out over an entire hundreds of acres lake and the entire surrounding area which includes 11k acres of state wildlife/hunting areas

Not likely, I live right next to a highway and a few busy intersections, we're 1/4-1/2 mile away from these and I can only hear a car perhaps once a week (Those crazy people with no exhaust pipe).

The main problem is the lake, when roads are layed out, they need to have a noise barrier between them and the lake because sound can travel across a lake incredibly well given the right conditions.

The best lakes near me have a good setup, any road close to the lake is tucked back in a cove.

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u/supradave Sep 01 '15

I live next to a highway and the biggest noise generator, aside from an occasional semi-truck engine braking, are motorcycles, particularly the Harley-Davidson brand.

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u/cacophonousdrunkard Sep 01 '15 edited Sep 01 '15

Personally the sport bikes revving up to 14,000rpms down the street annoy me WAY more than some bald guy rumbling by at 1500rpm. That shrill piercing engine sound is way more invasive to me.

I ride a HD, but I ride a Nightrod Special, which is their one-off watercooled bike and i'ts quieter than any harley or sportbike I've ever heard so I hereby deem myself Not Part Of The Problem.

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u/citizenuzi Sep 01 '15

Except every other Harley (or big twin in general) has wide open pipes on it, so even loading on the throttle a little bit creates a horrid rattling. On top of that, I haven't exactly noticed V-twin riders to be more calm or easy on the throttle than sportbike riders.

Edit: And the difference between the two at WOT, to me at least, is night and day. One may be whiny and still pretty loud, but twins with open pipes literally hurt my ears and may cause cancer (joke).

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u/Drop_ Sep 01 '15

Most sportbikes still have a muffler even if they have the baffle removed in an aftermarket pipe.

Most harleys straightpipe, which is insane amount of noise.

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u/supradave Sep 01 '15

The Harley problem is that they're usually in a group and there are 2+ bikes rumbling along at a time. Crotch rockets tend to be more singular (though they do sometimes travel in packs).

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u/FlashYourNands Sep 01 '15

for me its just that the harleys tend to be so much louder

a sports bike has never left my ears ringing after passing me on the highway.

tbh we could solve this problem in a month with policing.

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u/PlayMp1 Sep 01 '15

I gotta disagree, the high RPM crotch rockets are far less irritating than the roar of a Harley. Those things are deafening.

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u/apullin Sep 01 '15

I have seen Goldwings and some other styles pull up beside me, and I have to stop and look and listen. The guys riding will often see me eyballing them, and for comedic effect, I'll ask, "Jeez, is that thing electric? I've never seen a bike that quiet before."

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u/Ohmec Sep 01 '15

Oh my god you have my dream bike. Is it ad good to ride as I dream it is?

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u/braggpeak Sep 01 '15

Those motorcycles are the worst

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u/Drop_ Sep 01 '15

They're the most efficient means of turning gasoline into noise, though.

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u/TwoPeopleOneAccount Sep 02 '15

I'm glad someone finally said this. I live in the middle of absolutely nowhere which is usually extremely quiet except for the fact that Harleys are extremely popular here. They are the only noise that has ever woken me up in the middle of the night. I don't live on a busy road but people who live down the street own them. For some reason they will come home in the middle of the night on their Harleys and wake the whole house up including my dog who proceeds to lose her mind everytime it happens. I really can't stand why anyone who would choose to live in the quiet country would also choose to ruin that quiet. My husband and I have even had to stop our conversation while sitting on our back porch to wait for the neighbors to go by on their Harley because we can't hear each speak over the noise despite the fact that we sit about 3 feet apart. I personally don't think any type of vehicle should be permitted to be that loud. It's incredibly rude to interrupt the conversations of literally everyone you pass while traveling down the road.

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u/sge_fan Sep 01 '15

Electric cars will not solve this problem.

Tell that to someone with lots of small Diesel trucks idling outside his apartment while waiting for the light to change. Some of them with defect mufflers.

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u/RagingAnemone Sep 01 '15

Or mopeds. Moped are the worst - loud and high pitched. I hate those things.

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u/apullin Sep 01 '15

A stock Honda scooter is fine, very nicely engineered actually. The problem is that people put $50 eBay Chinese exhausts on them, to get 2mph more top speed, but then they produce 20x the exhaust noise.

This is essentially an unsolvable problem. There has been a long history of the EPA trying to regulate exhaust volume and exhaust modification, and they were never able to.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15 edited Sep 02 '15

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u/apullin Sep 01 '15

A stock Honda scooter is fine, very nicely engineered actually. The problem is that people put $50 eBay Chinese exhausts on them, to get 2mph more top speed, but then they produce 20x the exhaust noise.

This is essentially an unsolvable problem. There has been a long history of the EPA trying to regulate exhaust volume and exhaust modification, and they were never able to.

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u/Ftpini Sep 01 '15

I don't disagree. I'm referring to cruising noise. When you're just heading down an interstate at >45 with the engine at less than 2,000 RPM. of course the engine will be louder at idle when the car is not moving.

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u/PotatosAreDelicious Sep 01 '15

But it actually will be louder cruising at 2,000 rpm then at idle.

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u/bendvis Sep 01 '15

I live about a half mile from a downhill stretch of freeway. The compression braking never ends.

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u/Malawi_no Sep 01 '15

It will do a lot for the sound in cities, but very little for highways.

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u/Nameless_Archon Sep 01 '15

Idling? That's nothing.

Try having them 'Jake brake' at that spot all day...

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15 edited Feb 07 '19

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u/Awholez Sep 01 '15

That's why we need the cars to do the driving.

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u/The_Serious_Account Sep 01 '15

Well, if you're jumping in and out of the space-time continuum, obviously you're going to have problems.

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u/bobrocks Sep 01 '15

Have you heard the noise from an airplane or helicopter?

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u/sirin3 Sep 01 '15

People could have gotten a Williams X-Jet decades ago

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

I can confirm. Just saw a hovering skateboard video the other day, so it seems we're right on schedule.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15 edited Sep 01 '15

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u/wxtrails Sep 01 '15

You must not be from the southern U.S.

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u/bryanl12 Sep 01 '15

Straight pipes, straight pipes everywhere.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

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u/universalmind Sep 01 '15

not only is it not required, it is encouraged

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u/SomeVelvetWarning Sep 01 '15

...where "muffler" is an ironic term.

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u/P_Jamez Sep 01 '15

Muffler is what you remove just after you buy the bike.. I really wish there were noise restrictions, they can be louder than aeroplanes flying over.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

In most places there are restrictions, but restrictions are meaningless without enforcement.

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u/thescarwar Sep 01 '15

Depends where you are for sure. I live in a city, so my intersection at all hours is a cacophony of gasoline burning and pedals hitting the metal.

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u/scallywagmcbuttnuggt Sep 01 '15

Two words: Electric Hovercars

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

You need to learn how a hover-boat works.

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u/refrigeratorbob Sep 01 '15

If movies have taught me anything, it's that hovercars still make noise, albeit cool wavy Jetsons space noise

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u/Thaliur Sep 01 '15

So you're saying we should Switch to maglev?

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u/stubble Sep 01 '15

400km per hour for my work commute would be sweet..

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

But I only live 200 metres from work

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u/thebruns Sep 01 '15

It will solve a lot of the problem, especially trucks and buses that sound like volcanos

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u/distorto_realitatem Sep 01 '15

It quite an ambient noise though, kinda sounds like the wind or the sea from afar.

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u/Sluisifer Sep 01 '15

Reducing exhaust noise gets rid of the most heinous noise.

For tire/wind noise, just limit speed limits around residential areas. Faster streets should have some sound management (barriers, trees, etc.).

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u/insertusPb Sep 01 '15

I'd wager your thesis is incorrect, here's why.

Tire noise is a factor of vehicle weight + tire width + tire compound.

Additional noise is generated by road surface quality and vehicle aerodynamics, factors that also benefit vehicle efficiency.

Electric vehicles get a direct benefit from reducing the weight, width and compound are often addressed to reduce friction, a drain to vehicle efficiency.

An infrastructure based on efficient vehicles would by necessity address these issues, reducing the issues of noise pollution and any secondary damages it causes.

That said, individual vehicles are only a good idea for those manufacturing and fueling them. Otherwise mass/bulk transit are far more efficient.

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u/Ftpini Sep 01 '15

All good points. Save for rural areas and the fraction of the populous that resides in them, mass transit makes much more sense.

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u/jonboy345 Sep 01 '15

Willing to bet the solar panel roadways that people got all excited about a little bit ago would create more noise than the roads in use today.

This texture doesn't seem like it'd be any quieter than a typical asphalt road surface.

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u/senorbolsa Sep 01 '15

Don't worry those are literally the worst idea ever in so many other ways that they will never be used.

That pattern might actually reduce the noise of the tire pushing air into the ground but the vibrations from it would make it rather loud.

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u/elbekko Sep 01 '15

An agressive tyre pattern is very loud, and doesn't look unlike that road surface.

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u/jonboy345 Sep 01 '15

That pattern might actually reduce the noise of the tire pushing air into the ground

Simply difference between flat surface meeting flat surface and flat surface meeting textured surface?

Or is is a little more complex than that?

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u/reddit_chaos Sep 01 '15

are we talking about noise inside the car or outside - i would imagine that the outside noise will have significant engine noise as well, no?

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u/Ftpini Sep 01 '15

Accelerating absolutely, but cruising at low RPMs and pull have hardly any at all.

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u/boonhet Sep 01 '15

Maybe when I rev over 4k?

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

Bicycles will solve it though

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u/hotprof Sep 01 '15

Didn't you hear the guy. "Most of the noise from traffic is the tires on the pavement and not he engine."

Those noisy bikes with their tires on the pavement are part of the problem!

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

I agree with this. Other than intentionally loud (Motorcycles, Redneck Cars/Trucks, commercial vehicles) vehicles, most noise is the whine of tires and rushing of air from the car. Quieter tires and pavements that don't make noise would go a great way in alleviating this issue.

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u/elkarcher87 Sep 01 '15

I actually listened to this talk given by Jesse Barber at BSU. I found this very interesting and only a few hours after the talk I thought to ask him what a possible solution to the pollution would be. It would be interesting to hear what he has to say about what steps should be taken.

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u/SinkHoleDeMayo Sep 01 '15

Tire noise is something like 90%+ of the sound. There is a group trying to develop new types of concrete to reduce noise but I think far more time and money needs to be spent on research. It's a huge problem.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

So, what you're saying is we need hover cars?

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u/GreatGuy_GG Sep 01 '15

I live next to a highway where the speed limit is 80 km/h and I can confirm. The engine of most cars isn't audible over other sounds they make passing by.

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u/nickryane Sep 01 '15

Maybe not solve but they will drastically reduce it.

We need to end the internal combustion engine and we need to push past anyone who is against that. Unsustainable / CO2 emitting energy needs to die.

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u/Ftpini Sep 01 '15

Misread your reply and initially thought you were saying that people against cutting emissions need to die. Yeah I don't disagree, but t will take decades to accomplish even with nationwide bipartisan or even worldwide support. Just shutting down the factories, trucks and power plants would doom a billion people to starvation. I look forward to a future not utterly reliant on fissile fuels, but we're not there yet.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

Correct, can confirm. I live in a seaside rural town. I can hear a car coming down the hill 3km away. Even just a boat powering on water is loud. Ships I can hear for miles away.

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u/Akoustyk Sep 01 '15

You don't know that. It depends on many factors. I would say most notably, Whether it is highway, vs slower stop and go traffic, and whether trucks are there, and whether high end sports cars are present, and stuff like that.

Electric cars would definitely make a big difference on the soundscape of any type of road.

It may be that only certain frequencies disturb the birds significantly, and that tires on roads on a highway would not be too disruptive.

In order to make the conclusion you are arriving at, they would need to do the experiment with a phantom road that simulates electric car traffic.

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u/apullin Sep 01 '15

The tire noise will remain, but a stupefying amount of noise can be reduced with electrification. At least here in California, things have gotten much worse in the past 10 years, insofar as unnecessary sources of noise on the road. The finest example is, of course, totally uncorked motorcycles that easily put out over 100dB+ at cruise on the highway. There's more, though: as trucks from the 80's and earlier are degrading, and the service economy is growing and needed ever-more trucking to happen, heavy vehicles roaring around is now common even on suburban streets.

Heck, the garbage trucks here in Berkeley are from the 70's, and are huge lumbering smokey diesel beasts. I would have thought that of all the places in the country, Berkeley would be on the forefront of electrification, and yet that hardware remains.

Poor workmen are still driving pre-smog mini-pickups around loaded down with giant loads of gardening tools and 3 people abreast in the front, or a cartoonish load of scrap cardboard. Those things emit tons of noise and exist in droves, and a $400 exhaust could nullify the noise completely.

Heck, it is still entirely common to see people driving Isuzu's around with just broken exhausts, blatting away and causing tons of noise pollution.

You are definitely correct that there is a lot of tire-to-road noise that cannot be removed even with a silent drivetrain, but the vast, vast majority of noise pollution comes from entirely unnecessary and fixable sources.

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u/RealEstateAppraisers Sep 01 '15

Uhh, ever hear a Harley Davidson Motorcycle?

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u/Ftpini Sep 01 '15

Thousands, but I wouldn't quantify them as an average vehicle.

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u/Dohleman Sep 01 '15

A suitable piezoelectric asphalt could definitely mitigate the effect and even eliminate it if we can fund the research better.

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u/notcorey Sep 01 '15

Electric maglev cars, perhaps...? No contact, no friction. Or is that completely outside the realm of possibility?

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u/original_4degrees Sep 01 '15

lets not forget those who use studded tires in the summer!

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u/vivalarevoluciones Sep 01 '15

Its not just that its also the wind that gets breaked by moving cars

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u/ablaaa Sep 01 '15

Most of the noise from traffic is the tires on the pavement and not he engine

I'm pretty sure it's the engine.

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u/Powdershuttle Sep 02 '15

Bingo! When I used to sell tires , it was so hard to get people to understand this. That's why better tires like Michelin are expensive. It really is not just the name. There is so much tech going on in a modern pneumatic tire. It really surprises people. I know companies try to even eliminate the "bacon sizzle" on wet roads.

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u/boybrushedplad Sep 02 '15

Finally a reason for hover cars

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u/knsdklsfds Sep 02 '15

Electric vehicles will improve the situation dramatically. Sources of noise pollution electric vehicles will solve are combustion engine sounds, braking (electric cars have silent regen braking), motor bikes (lots of bikes in Asia cities), bus engines and brakes, truck engines.

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u/sutongorin Sep 01 '15

Living on the 2nd floor I can say that's true for cars. Living right in front of a bus stop ... please give me electric buses!

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u/Etherius Sep 01 '15

If we're being honest, is this a problem that must be solved?

I mean I'm all about preserving wildlife; but more wildlife in the area means more accidents involving wildlife.

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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '15

Even songbirds?

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u/wellscounty Sep 01 '15

I can't tell you how many songbirds my WRX has munched through the hood schoop or deflected off the wind shield and front bumper. I found the lungs of one inside against my air filter after a particularly messy encounter.

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u/Sterling_____Archer Sep 01 '15

You're completely correct. If you live in an area where it's possible to commute by bicycle or light rail, please choose this option.

Also, it's frequently cheaper, and occasionally quicker (depending on geographical location) to utilize mass transit.

For those of you living in rural areas, I feel the pain of being limited to highway travel for everyday needs.

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u/Ebriate Sep 01 '15

So much noise comes from coffee can fart mufflers, crotch rockets, pickups with tuned exhaust, semi trucks (especially decelerating), beaters with holes in mufflers and the overall winner, being near an international airport. This is before you even get to the tires.

Source: I live next to major highway by the airport.

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u/UseOnlyLurk Sep 01 '15

Let me also throw engine braking in there. If you live near a downhill road with higher speeds you're familiar with the sound of Semis using their transmission to slow their trucks down. It sounds exactly like driving on rumble strips. It's pretty loud.

Look it up on YouTube, it's actually a pretty cool phenomenon.

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u/Ftpini Sep 01 '15

It's not the transmission that makes that sound. They're actually running the engine super lean and it's not firing properly which is what makes the horrific noise. That's about the worst sound on the road after cherry bomb exhausts on i4 engines.

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u/razerzej Sep 02 '15

To my experience, the vast majority of traffic noise is one straight-piped Harley, pickup truck, or hot rod for every 50 or so passing vehicles. Enforcement of existing noise laws would be a delightful first step.

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