VIC: Driving us deaf

Herald Sun

Peter Rolfe, August 12, 2007

PULSATING car stereos are blasting Melbourne with noise louder than a jet engine.

More than rocking the suburbs, music from some cars annoys homeowners, shopkeepers, pedestrians and causes hearing damage ...

The low-frequency noise they emit shakes windows, rattles teeth, causes nausea and can damage organs.

Sound expert Graham Murphy said noise pollution was more than a nuisance.

"It can make you physically ill," he said.

Car audio specialist Angelo Di Donato said volumes had been clocked as high as 164.8 decibels.

Most of the cars causing a nuisance around Melbourne played music at between 135 and 140 decibels ...

"The louder, the better," he said. "My speakers can be heard two blocks away." ...