LOUD CARS: Not a new issue

Our beautiful city has hosted Car d’Lane for decades, and anyone who has been to Coeur d’Alene on Father’s Day weekend can tell you it can be pretty loud. Yet thousands of people love it. Car enthusiasts travel hundreds of miles to share their passion. Locals put up their chairs on Thursday evening to save prime spots for the cruise.

We have a burgeoning Cars and Coffee scene.

Colleagues tell me stories of racing up and down Sherman in Chevelles and Mustangs back in the ’70s.

I don’t bring these up to advocate for street racing, or unnecessary revving, or the new popcorn exhaust fad. I bring these up to demonstrate that loud cars are not a new issue.

What is new is the small subset of our more recent population, who would buy a condo unit downtown, on a major thoroughfare, and then be surprised to find out that cars drive down there. Who say they came here for freedom and want to “keep Idaho, Idaho,” while simultaneously advocating for new laws restricting others’ freedom to pursue their passion or hobby.

I acknowledge that one of my cars can be loud if driven that way. But that’s because it’s built to lap racetracks. However, I’d submit to you that stock Mustangs and Challengers can be just as loud, without any modification.

I agree that obnoxious driving needs to be addressed, but I’d suggest Coeur d’Alene not get into the business of nannying what people can attach to their cars, and instead focus any new ordinance on the act and not the hardware.

S. JOHNSON

Coeur d’Alene