Originally Posted by
gerv
For quite a while, I've noticed the impact of traffic noises. It really gives an unpleasant energy, particularly when you are cycling near a freeway or in a neighborhood with a few motorcycles.
Yet, if you google this issue, it seems like it hasn't hit anyone's radar.
Thankfully, there are some times (early in the morning, holidays particularly) when there aren't a lot of cars around and my neighborhood seems really peaceful.
Nights too can occasionally be quite. I love to step outside my house and hear a train in the distance and very little else.
I do a lot of riding at night. I love the relative quiet, especially during a fresh snowfall. The snow muffles the sound and keeps some cars off the roads.
But I agree that traffic noise is one of the unpleasant aspects of cars. We blindly (deafly?) accept it like we accept more than 30,000 traffic fatalities every year, asthma, obesity and other health problems associated with cars.
The
EPA says,
"Noise pollution adversely affects the lives of millions of people. Studies have shown that there are direct links between noise and health. Problems related to noise include stress related illnesses, high blood pressure, speech interference, hearing loss, sleep disruption, and lost productivity. Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is the most common and often discussed health effect, but research has shown that exposure to constant or high levels of noise can cause countless adverse health affects."
(BTW, I was able to find a lot of information when I googled "noise pollution.")