In Freeport, silence, please

If you have a car thatt goes boom, you might want to cross Freeport off your vacation agenda: Freeportt police can now arrest drivers who crank the bass. It's part of a new city ordinance that makes it illegal for music to be "felt" outside a vehicle — a little beyond a state law that prohibits playing music louder than 85 decibels (about the level of heavy street traffic or a vacuum at close range).

Police call it a quality of life issue: They've responded to more than 160 noise compaints so far this year, and city officials say the sound and vibration is distracting and annoying to people who are just trying to enjoy a little Dionne Warwick. "Anything that affects the quality of your peace, I think is something that law enforcement needs to address," police Capt. Richard Miller said. But some locals, like Robert Valentine, think the law is crap: "I don't want us to have to stop what we love doing," he told KTRK. "That's what we love to do, that's what we want to do. I don't want someone to tell us we can't do it."

The potential problem with the law is how to enforce it. Under the ordinance, police can give a citation if they can feel a driver's music or see the effects of the bass, but there don't seem to be any definite standards. We guess it's kinda like porn: You'll know it when you see it. Or feel it.