The study made some strong remarks about the kind of people who would modify their car’s exhaust. If psychopathy and sadism aren’t bad enough, apparently loud truck owners would do even worse.
- A professor in Ontario, Canada, has released results of a study of people’s attitudes toward loud vehicles.
- Having asked undergraduate business students whether they think such vehicles are “cool,” the result, not totally surprisingly, was that many of them do.
- Respondents also scored high on the “psychopathy and sadism” scale, but the study was only for cars. Truck and motorcycle owners, the study suggests, might score even worse.
A new study by Western University in Ontario says that if you’ve got a car with a modified exhaust system, odds are you’re a guy and probably also psychotic and sadistic. Slapping a Cherry Bomb glasspack on your Monte Carlo doesn’t (necessarily) mean you’re a Ted Bundy–level psycho, but the data someone points to a personality that enjoys inflicting unpleasantness on others. The study—catchily titled, “A desire for a loud car with a modified muffler is predicted by being a man and higher scores on psychopathy and sadism”—was commissioned by professor Julie Aitken Schermer, who heard many a loud car in London, Ontario, and wondered what kind of person would want their car exhaust to be louder than normal. She probably could have saved a lot of time by simply looking up Cadillac Escalade-V registrations. …
Yes, going out of the way to make something more annoying by imposing loud sounds on everyone around them is like yelling at everyone.
And importantly, it shows that you are not phased by the discomfort you are inflicting on others
In my experience most of them enjoy discomforting and upsetting others. It gives them some kind of ego high.
“I annoy, therefore I exist” - Annoying assholes
Where I work, I have to talk to customers through a window using a mic/speaker, and I have a customer who has like 50 “too loud? too bad!” stickers plastered all over his car, and he used to constantly show up blaring music at absurd volumes.
He’d walk up to my window and I couldn’t hear a damn word he said, and when I told him I couldn’t hear him he couldn’t fucking hear me either. It took several visits before he learned to turn his music down before coming to my window. He’s the dumbest customer I’ve ever had, I stg.
There were also a couple times where a customer actually opened his door and turned his music off themselves so that they could tell me what they wanted.
Real life trolls then? Makes sense to me.
Yep, next do the people that listen to music on the train without headphones.
It’s loud when you have to release the back pressure of an exhaust with mufflers to scavenge more power by using a less restrictive muffler and it’s actually more fuel efficient. If you have a large turbo, you can actually overheat your engine because there’s not enough flow to release the heat. Sometimes people are assholes and like loud mufflers without having tune or supporting modifications. Harleys are loud just to be loud and have no power. Supercars are loud because they have more power. Hyundai Ionic N electric vehicles are loud just to be loud and pretend it’s an internal combustion engine.
(Obligatory acknowledgement that “psychotic” is not an accurate description of what the study or journal article said, that was an erroneous description by Car & Driver. “Sociopathic” or “sadistic” might be more accurate, based on the study.)
Psychotic is not the same thing as psychopathic. Psychotic is someone who suffers from a psychosis.
Yes, I was going to comment that this sounds “sociopathic”, but they didnt actually inclde that in the paper.
I wonder if its also correlated with a likelihood to drive at excess speed in built up areas, use mobile phone whilst driving, or otherwise things risk the safety of those other than the perpetrator.
Truck and motorcycle owners, the study suggests, might score even worse.
From my anecdotal and personal evidence, I can confirm that every biker that makes their exhaust extra loud (which is illegal in Brazil, btw) is a fucking asshole.
There is a special place in hell for the guy in my apartment complex that starts up his motorcycle at 6:30am just to leave it there, loudly idling, for a good half hour before he finally drives off
Sounds like it would violate a noise ordinance and that he’s providing ample time for cops to come harass him.
Hopefully the police don’t murder people at random there. In Holland we have civil servants who are not the police who will issue fines in cases like this, which seems sensible.
Yeah I’m not advocating police brutality. Just tickets/fines will do
I had a neighbor like that when I was a kid. Drove me nuts. Not at 6:30 am, but he would just leave it there idling for an hour.
RRAAAHBBBLUBLUBLUBLUB
Time to include this in the DSM
Edit: apparently the paper is more than a year old. And here is the doi to the original paper:
https://doi.org/10.5114%2FCIPP%2F162006Were we expecting anything good from people whose only contribution to the artistic output of humanity is “HEAR MY CAR FART”?
So it’s what we all thought all along: they are attention seeking morons.
But now we can say “Scientifically speaking, they are attention seeking morons.”
No! They are not! That was the exact hypothesis that was DISPROVEN. They are not attention seeking, they are sadistic and trying to hurt people. They don’t want people’s attention, they want people to suffer.
Funny that this came out of London Ontario, one of the most carbrained cities of its size in North America (I grew up there).
Not Just Bike’s - Fake London?
Yeah, same city.
I hate loud noises more than anything. If I were a dictator, I would make it open season on people with loud cars or motorcycles. Just on-sight, consequence-free murder. It would still be legal to mod your car or bike like that, you would just have to accept that everyone will be permitted to kill you.
Think of all the gun shot noise! You haven’t thought of the gun shot noise, Dee!
Psychopathic, you mean
In this thread are two kinds of people:
- Those who understand and respect public and shared resources
- Those who don’t and are likely under 25
- Those who make off-by-one errors
Your rights end where it encroaches on other’s rights. Simple as. Read it again if it still feels vague, no one is stopping you. Take your time. Get it tattooed above your navel if it helps. Flashcards are very effective, as is spaced repetition. Mantra. You got this, champ. We believe in you!
Some humans struggle so very much with this extraordinarily simple concept, well past 25. Social externalities. Thus, we must write city codes and laws in a never-ending quest to achieve the limits of idiot-proof. Then along come the attorneys, police, etc. Perhaps Fermi has his answer?
But alas, engaging with someone who argues in bad faith by choice is like wrestling a pig. At the end of the day, you both get dirty and the pig likes it.
Ugh. I was in a small touristy town with my family last weekend and like 50 bikers in a row drove by the main street in this small town, just blaring their fucking engines for the good 5 minutes it took them all to go past.
And then there were the other motorcyclists who thought the world wanted to hear the music they were listening to.
I started typing everything below and then remembered most people that modify their exhausts want attention and most of these people with loud cars are young. They usually grow out of it.
I used a loud radio in my car to get mine when young. I still like loud music but keep it to myself.
Original reply
I’ve almost always lived in places where there was a mechanical inspection or smog inspection. There were a few times I had to temporarily let my car be loud and I hated it. These times were only when I was waiting on parts or talent.
Some people play the cat-and-mouse game with loud, modified exhausts and fix them when caught. Others like to modify their ECU so the car makes popping noises when decelerating.
THE WHISTLE GOES WOOOOOOO https://youtu.be/C4QMffMAwAU?si=Ui-LBJEdYu-7x8cD
That’s only in the morning, you’re supposed to be having breakfast or something is like an alarm clock wooo wooo.
It’s probably been close to 20 years since I saw this, but that’s from memory and I suck at movie quotes.
I feel that exhaust notes are necessary feedback for drivers so they have a more visceral knowledge of what their car is doing. They could be piped into the car and not audible outside, but I think people would drive better with it.
