Photo credit: Alex Mahan licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition, and Honorary Chair, Quiet American Skies
Mariah Burchell, Victoria Buzz, reports on an online survey of a sample of 1,000 Canadians that found that nearly 50% of the respondents reported that their town or city was noisier this year than it was last year. Noisy vehicles were high on the noisy list, with about a third of the respondents listing this noise as disturbing. Other noises listed: construction sounds, loud people in their homes, barking dogs, car alarms, and yard work. The report noted a few noises were reported less this year than last, namely home alarms, fireworks, and the like.
The survey found that there was a growth in the proportion of Canadians who are bothered at home by drivers honking the horn excessively, with 3 out of 10 Canadians living in British Columbia reporting this particular nuisance. Readers can access the actual report of this noise survey that is cited in the article.
I want to let readers know that I serve as an advisor to the Right to Quiet, a Canadian group located in Vancouver that is concerned about noise pollution. The Right to Quiet has been educating Canadians on the harmful effects of noise and the positive impacts of quiet for years. Additionally, I have worked with groups in Ontario and Quebec on the noise issue. The U.S. and Canada have many things in common, unfortunately noise pollution is one of them.
