What boom cars are and why you’re probably hearing their parties
The aggressively loud music produced by so-called "boom car parties" have gained more than the attention of sleepless, aggravated residents. The mostly summertime nuisance has also gained the attention of politicians and police.
Here's everything you need to know about boom car parties and the efforts to muzzle them.
What is a boom car?
NoiseOff, an online resource on reducing noise pollution, defines a boom car as a heavily-modified vehicle purpose-built to produce shattering music.
"A boom car is a vehicle equipped with an audio system that produces excessive sound pressure levels," read a portion of NoiseOff's "boom cars" website. "The pounding bass noise can be heard and felt over a wide distance, rattle windows and travel through walls."
What are boom car parties, and why are they popular?
Boom car parties occur when multiple owners of these vehicles show up, usually late at night, at preplanned locations to show off just how excruciatingly-loud their cars can go.
Boom car parties often attract dozens of drivers and spectators, and have spawned a national subculture, notes NoiseOff.
"The car audio industry promotes 'booming' to males in their teens and twenties with some disposable income," read NoiseOff's Boom car website. "The message is that it will attract women and improve their social standing among their peers.
"Boom cars have given rise to an urban subculture. Sound pressure level (SPL) competitions (also known as dB drag racing) are held nationwide. Non-professional competitors spend thousands of the dollars on audio equipment for their vehicles."
But the noise doesn’t sit well with anyone trying to get some sleep. Though the parties are often held in parking lots or open spaces away from residential communities, the noise can travel into those neighborhoods. During summer nights, when people have their windows open, the boom cars are more noticeable.
What is being done to stop boom cars and boom car parties?
Efforts are currently underway in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to eradicate boom car parties this summer.
Last year, then acting-New Jersey Gov. Nicholas Scutari signed a law enhancing penalties and fines for boom car parties.
"It's no secret that 'boom car' parties have negatively affected the quality of life in towns up and down the Delaware River," Singleton said at the time. "For so long, we struggled to get Philadelphia officials to take these nuisances seriously, and after months of all parties continuously meeting on this issue, it seems like they finally are."
Philadelphia City Council took up the boom car issue in 2023.
Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist who reports on trending news across the Mid-Atlantic region.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Boom cars are getting attention again; what are they?
