"BOOM CAR" SHAKES APART IN MIDDLE OF ROAD

by Colleen Smith, Staff reporter

You can hear them and feel them coming from a mile away. "Boom-ah Boom-ah Boom-a" go cars equipped with subwoofers; a major source of urban noise pollution. They shake windows, and wake anyone trying to sleep as they pass. While it has always been obvious that "boom cars" are a threat to the hearing of the driver and any passengers, it is now apparent that they are a threat to the cars themselves. On Saturday September 18, Larry McGee's automobile came apart at the seams while he was driving.

"I was just cruising down East 19th, playing my tunes, laughing as people's car alarms go off, when I start to hear strange noises: Something rattling and shaking. I turned my sounds up louder so I don't have to hear it and my (expletive deleted) car falls apart! First the trunk falls off, then the fenders, then the engine hit the pavement, and I stop cold! A few seconds later I am in a bare frame with the wheel in my hands, not moving!"

It turns out that over time, the vibrations from subwoofers can eventually break seals holding nuts and bots together. This can happen even if they are painted over. Once the seals are broken, the continued vibration will cause bolts to loosen. The more a "boom car" shakes, the sooner it can meet the fate of  Mr. McGee's Monte Carlo, which once looked much like the one pictured here.

McGee had left home without his cellular phone that day, and had to find a pay phone to call for help. While he was away, thieves made off with his entire stereo system and any part of the car light enough to carry. "Now that really added insult to injury!" said McGee.

He then went on to comment that I was "looking pretty hot", and attempted to ask me out on a date. I refused, telling him I wanted nothing to do with a man who does not even have a car. No scrubs!

HOME