Ahhh, summertime, the chance to sleep with the windows open and feel the tickle of a fresh breeze, only to be awakened abruptly by the “boom-thump-boom-thump-boom” announcing a vehicle’s approach from several blocks away.

Few intrusions incite passions as do “boom cars,” vehicles with stereos supercharged by woofers and subwoofers that can pump out 3,000 watts of power and reach noise levels up to 150 decibels – equivalent to the noise from a jet engine at 30 yards away – and exceeding the human pain threshold for noise of 120. So it’s little wonder that the Des Moines Police Department’s decision to enforce the city’s noise ordinance as it relates to excessively loud car stereos is being met with thunderous applause.

The right to enjoy quiet and tranquility is a quality-of-life issue that shouldn’t be ignored. Lest anyone think this is just “old-fogey Des Moines” widening the generation gap, the capital city isn’t alone. Cities across the country are taking similar measures, partially in response to a 2001 U.S. Census survey in which street or traffic noise was classified as bothersome in 11.8 million households and 4.5 million people found it so disruptive they wanted to move.

Even so, the crackdown on boom cars comes at some peril. Whose property rights take precedence, the property owner whose peace and quiet is disturbed, or the owner of the car stereo who likes music blaring? It’s one thing if the noise is so loud it causes something to break in a nearby home or causes bodily injury to an innocent passer-by, but the notion that people’s rights have been violated by being exposed to something they find disagreeable is quite another. Precedence is important, and there’s no end to what might be found disagreeable.

It’s also important to remember that one person’s nuisance is another’s music. Many of us aren’t so old that we don’t remember our parents saying the sounds emanating from guitars played by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page weren’t music, so it’s important that enforcement is focused on the level of the noise and not the musical genres – for example rap and hip-hop – and the people who find that music enjoyable.