Thrills, attention behind desire for loud cars

In response Gerry McGovern's recent question on the Opinion page, Oct. 30, "Who are these loud-car people?": That's a great question, I think I can explain.

You pointed out that they are mostly males, in dark tinted, somewhat dilapidated cars that don't necessarily travel fast. Good point, they're usually in beaters fitted with noisy exhaust systems intentionally installed to sound powerful. So, it must be that it gives them a thrill.

Much like the Harley drivers that love the sound and feel of power between their legs ... at least these car-noisers have the sound to give them a thrill.

It's also about attention seeking. We all, as humans, have an inherent need to massage our egos. But that doesn't mean all find it necessary to drive loud vehicles to boost their egos. Some wear "loud" clothes (no problem, my ears can handle loud clothes), some people like to sound off on social media going into moronic rants about topics they don't know much about.

I'm not sure which is more obnoxious, the loud-car people or the social media, misinformation spreading know-it-alls. At least I can turn off social media, not so with the loud cars.

So that has got to be it, they're low self-esteem, attention-seeking individuals who can't afford a high-performance car.

I thought there were excessive noise laws to protect U.S. from this scourge. Perhaps law enforcement is busy with more serious crime, like shootings. What a world.

Jim Richardson

Grayslake