To the editor: S66 is a bill that is just noise, nuisance

Is S66 really needed? Just a few things Sen. Alison Clarkson fails to mention about S66 (To the editor: Clarkson updates legislative work at the halfway mark The Chester Telegraph, March 31.)   Currently, there are laws that govern public nuisance in creating loud noises.

Maybe instead of creating more laws about loud noises, our public safety officials could enforce the ones already on the books?  After all they are already engaged in aggressive traffic enforcement. Are the good senators implying that our police are not doing their jobs properly?

The far more insidious portion of this bill is that it creates a Citizen Reporting System, “The Agency of Transportation shall establish on its website a motor vehicle noise reporting system through which individuals can report motor vehicles that the individual believes are emitting noise at sound levels in violation of …”

Kinda of an electronic Ann Frankenstein snitch line if you will.  I suggest this  https://vtrans.vermont.gov/isnitch.  Don’t like your neighbors truck/bike or their kids car with the fart can?  Just pull out your notebook/tablet/phone and type in up the a fore mentioned URL and fill out the form.   Or we could take this a step further and create large QR codes people must stick next to their license plate that would allow the Karens and Kens of the world to complain about something they find offensive in a far more effective manner.   This could be marketed as a Point/Click/Snitch service.   All bought and paid for by your tax dollars making the cost living in Vermont a little less affordable.   But I digress …

Perhaps sponsors of this bill could enlighten us as to just how this benefits Vermont’s societal rural live and let live culture and way of life in a positive manner?

I also question the need to create yet another taxpayer funded job position to staff a Loud Pipe snitch system.   Given all the cuts to funding about to be imposed upon us, just what was the cost-benefit analysis used to justify this increase in government bureaucracy?  We also see claims that this bill will reduce noise pollution.  What pray tell was the qualitative data used to derive such a conclusion?

Another hypothesis could be the whole concept of this is nothing but political feel-good theater and really not needed by society.

Craig Miller
Chester