Once-peaceful island ruined by noisy vehicles
I AM writing in support of the letter ‘Action needed on noisy vehicles’ in the Guernsey Press of Friday 24 September. The writer describes the current trend and increase in noisy vehicles as a ‘shame and an embarrassment to the island’, with which I totally agree.
Last week we sailed back from a few days in France and within seconds of entering the marina, you become aware of the noise of loud motorbikes and modified cars being driven by wannabe rally drivers along the front. It is a terrible welcome to the island. A few years ago I asked some Dutch people we met while sailing in Brittany whether they ever stopped in Guernsey on their way south, to which they replied that they had done so once but after 30 minutes in the marina, they sailed straight back out again on account of the traffic and noise. We let ourselves down by not tackling this antisocial and thoughtless behaviour.
We advertise ourselves as a peaceful and beautiful location but the amount of traffic we have belies the image we sell. However, the traffic that is intentionally noisy is even worse. Considerably worse because it advertises that we do not care.
And it is not just visitors that are affected, because it is an increasing aggravation for all of us living here. Nowhere in the island is immune from the noise, which is bad enough when you can hear it from several miles away, but when it is in close proximity it can feel incredibly threatening and aggressive, particularly when riding a bicycle where one depends on one’s ears for balance. On those occasions, which are becoming more and more frequent, these loud vehicles are positively dangerous to other road users.
The riders/drivers of these vehicles are not going to volunteer to pipe down because the culture that fosters this behaviour bestows prestige on those that are the loudest, and for some people, that attitude has become normal. So it will require action from both our government and police to enforce traffic noise regulations if Guernsey is to maintain any form of peacefulness. As no serious action has been taken, this problem has got worse and worse and will continue to do so until something effective is done. So come on States, let us see some real progress on this antisocial problem that is increasingly blighting the island.
ROSIE DOREY
St Andrew’s