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SALEM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Salem City Councilors are looking for the remote to crank down the downtown volume of the city's roads and commuters bumping tunes, revving engines, and yelling obscenities' out the driver's side window.
Salem City Councilor Caroline Watson-Felt tells WBZ's James Rojas that the problem of noise pollution has been brought to city officials a number of times concerning the hundreds of thousands of drivers that pass through with "no personal stake in the community."
The problem is spurring councilors to seek out a renewed push for a Home Rule Petition and legislation at the state level.
One of the main obstacles to solving noise pollution is the speed at which violators are traveling— as police typically arrive to the scene to find the offender already moved on. In order to combat disruptors, the city is considering the installation of "decibel reader enforcement cameras" in spots with accumulative noise, but that would require a change in Massachusetts state law.
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The Lieutenant Governor and Former Mayor of Salem Kim Driscoll has tried passing such measures in the past, but fell short of getting enough state support for camera traffic enforcement of this kind. City officials hope that Driscoll's move to the state level would boost the movement's chances of passage.
Other Salem residents weren't so sure cameras were the answer to the noise problem.
"Pull them over, write them a ticket, I don't like the cameras following everything you do," said one resident.
WBZ's James Rojas (@JamesRojasNews) reports.
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