Most people in our community have experienced sitting in their house or in their vehicle at a stoplight and being disturbed by a loud, booming car stereo near them.

This is one of the most annoying disturbances and we shouldn’t have to deal with.

Hardly a day goes by when our citizens are not bothered by those who play their stereos much louder than they need to and feel the physical effects of bass from these stereos.

The city of Bowling Green passed an ordinance, B.G. 97-13, on April 19, 1997, which provides that any stereo that can be heard from 100 feet or more from someone is in violation.

Bowling Green Police officers do their best to write citations against those who violate the ordinance, but catching them in the act is a little harder than one would think.

In 2006, 35 citations were issued for violating the ordinance and thus far this year 12 citations have been issued.

Bowling Green Police Public Information Officer Barry Pruitt said as the weather gets warmer, more and more people are cranking up their stereos.

Pruitt said one of the biggest complaints his department hears among neighborhood watch groups and others is loud car stereos.

But he said one of the hard parts of catching them is that officers pretty much have to be on top of them to issue a citation.

He said a lot of times people call and complain, but by the time they get there, the vehicle has already left the scene.

The bottom line is that this is just one nuisance that people in this community shouldn’t have to deal with.

It is the disrespectful acts of a few that have brought this topic to the forefront.

We live in a peaceful community where the majority of our citizens respect one another. Apparently those booming their car stereos above legal levels don’t feel the same.