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Indiana Governor's Motorsports Initiative Will Only Increase "Culture of Noise"
by Ted Rueter, Assistant Professor of Political Science at DePauw University
Governor Mitch Daniels has made promoting motorsports one of his top priorities. His Indiana Motorsports Initiative proposes to provide tax incentives to motorsports companies, encourage the state's public and private colleges to develop talent to staff racing firms, facilitate meetings among motorsports business leaders, and form a state motorsports association.
In response, the Indiana General Assembly extended a sales tax exemption for the engines and chassis of race cars to every part except the tires. The legislature also increased the tax credits inventors can claim for funding Indiana motorsports companies to $12.5 million.
And now Marian College, in the finest tradition of higher education, is now offering courses on "motorsports marketing."
Governor Daniels, an avid motorcyclist, is brimming with enthusiasm for his initiative. "It has terrific upside," he said. "It builds on a strength that we already have."
I could not disagree more. Indiana is overrun with noisy speedways, motorcycles, hot rods, and boom cars. The culture of noise advances hearing loss, incivility, and obesity. Promoting motorsports is the last thing the Hoosier state should do to improve its quality of life.
Motorsports are huge in Indiana. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts three mammoth annual events: the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400, and the US Grand Prix. Central Indiana has around 400 race-related firms, employing 8,800 full-time employees. Indiana PBS stations broadcast "Motor Sports Week." And, as the bumper sticker says, motorcycles ARE everywhere.
Last Friday night, I went to the Bloomington Speedway to observe sprint cars, street stocks, and open wheel modifieds. Within the first ten minutes, there were three accidents--two spinouts and a flipover (undoubtedly facilitated by the speedway's dirt track).
Noise levels were oppressive. Noise from the Bloomington Speedway can be heard from three or four miles away. While race officials wore protective headgear, fans in the stands did not. Indeed, there were numerous babies, toddlers, and elementary school kids in the crowd, who are especially vulnerable to the hazards of noise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1/8 of children between six and nineteen suffer from noise-related hearing loss.
Also, the thunderous noise from motor racing makes people more tolerant of noise from other sources, such as loud car stereos, illegal exhausts, leaf blowers, and car alarms.
In addition, motorsports encourage inappropriate driving behavior, such as speeding, tailgating, and road rage. A recent survey by the Public Agenda Foundation found that sixty percent of respondents often encounter reckless or aggressive drivers, and that eighty-eight percent often encounter people who are rude and disrespectful. A survey by the Steel Alliance found that 57 percent of Miami drivers admitted to four or more "aggressive" acts in the previous month (including honking their horns, making inappropriate gestures, or tailgating).
Motorsports are consistent with the Hoosier state's health problem. At the Bloomington Speedway, I observed numerous individuals sitting around eating junk food and smoking. Indiana is the nation's fourth-heaviest state; almost 69 percent of Indiana males are overweight. Almost 28 percent of Hoosiers smoke, placing it number five among tobacco-addicted states. Watching motorsports is a completely sedentary, couch potato activity.
Indiana has many more important priorities than promoting motorsports. The governor of Arizona is attempting to expand prescription drug coverage. The governor of Tennessee is working on expanding open space and preserving traditional family farms. The governor of California is championing stem cell research. Shouldn't Indiana strive to be a leader in education, or health care, or biomedical research, or mass transportation? Aren't these all far more important than motorsports?
A motor speedway in every Hoosier hometown? No, thanks.
Contact Information: Ken Owen, Director of Media Relations, (765) 658-4634
[email protected]
Author: Ted Rueter
Author's College: DePauw University
Author's Affiliation: Assistant Professor of Political Science
Published By: Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times
Publication Date: June 3, 2005
Keywords: noise, pollution, motorsports, auto racing, economic development
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Racing does not have anything to do with people eating, smoking, driving like idiots or anything, this guy is just ticked because his taxes are being cut in to and hes not getting anything in return....he sure will never be anything more then an Assistant.
Indiana Governor's Motorsports Initiative Will Only Increase "Culture of Noise"
by Ted Rueter, Assistant Professor of Political Science at DePauw University
Governor Mitch Daniels has made promoting motorsports one of his top priorities. His Indiana Motorsports Initiative proposes to provide tax incentives to motorsports companies, encourage the state's public and private colleges to develop talent to staff racing firms, facilitate meetings among motorsports business leaders, and form a state motorsports association.
In response, the Indiana General Assembly extended a sales tax exemption for the engines and chassis of race cars to every part except the tires. The legislature also increased the tax credits inventors can claim for funding Indiana motorsports companies to $12.5 million.
And now Marian College, in the finest tradition of higher education, is now offering courses on "motorsports marketing."
Governor Daniels, an avid motorcyclist, is brimming with enthusiasm for his initiative. "It has terrific upside," he said. "It builds on a strength that we already have."
I could not disagree more. Indiana is overrun with noisy speedways, motorcycles, hot rods, and boom cars. The culture of noise advances hearing loss, incivility, and obesity. Promoting motorsports is the last thing the Hoosier state should do to improve its quality of life.
Motorsports are huge in Indiana. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts three mammoth annual events: the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400, and the US Grand Prix. Central Indiana has around 400 race-related firms, employing 8,800 full-time employees. Indiana PBS stations broadcast "Motor Sports Week." And, as the bumper sticker says, motorcycles ARE everywhere.
Last Friday night, I went to the Bloomington Speedway to observe sprint cars, street stocks, and open wheel modifieds. Within the first ten minutes, there were three accidents--two spinouts and a flipover (undoubtedly facilitated by the speedway's dirt track).
Noise levels were oppressive. Noise from the Bloomington Speedway can be heard from three or four miles away. While race officials wore protective headgear, fans in the stands did not. Indeed, there were numerous babies, toddlers, and elementary school kids in the crowd, who are especially vulnerable to the hazards of noise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1/8 of children between six and nineteen suffer from noise-related hearing loss.
Also, the thunderous noise from motor racing makes people more tolerant of noise from other sources, such as loud car stereos, illegal exhausts, leaf blowers, and car alarms.
In addition, motorsports encourage inappropriate driving behavior, such as speeding, tailgating, and road rage. A recent survey by the Public Agenda Foundation found that sixty percent of respondents often encounter reckless or aggressive drivers, and that eighty-eight percent often encounter people who are rude and disrespectful. A survey by the Steel Alliance found that 57 percent of Miami drivers admitted to four or more "aggressive" acts in the previous month (including honking their horns, making inappropriate gestures, or tailgating).
Motorsports are consistent with the Hoosier state's health problem. At the Bloomington Speedway, I observed numerous individuals sitting around eating junk food and smoking. Indiana is the nation's fourth-heaviest state; almost 69 percent of Indiana males are overweight. Almost 28 percent of Hoosiers smoke, placing it number five among tobacco-addicted states. Watching motorsports is a completely sedentary, couch potato activity.
Indiana has many more important priorities than promoting motorsports. The governor of Arizona is attempting to expand prescription drug coverage. The governor of Tennessee is working on expanding open space and preserving traditional family farms. The governor of California is championing stem cell research. Shouldn't Indiana strive to be a leader in education, or health care, or biomedical research, or mass transportation? Aren't these all far more important than motorsports?
A motor speedway in every Hoosier hometown? No, thanks.
Contact Information: Ken Owen, Director of Media Relations, (765) 658-4634
[email protected]
Author: Ted Rueter
Author's College: DePauw University
Author's Affiliation: Assistant Professor of Political Science
Published By: Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times
Publication Date: June 3, 2005
Keywords: noise, pollution, motorsports, auto racing, economic development
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Racing does not have anything to do with people eating, smoking, driving like idiots or anything, this guy is just ticked because his taxes are being cut in to and hes not getting anything in return....he sure will never be anything more then an Assistant.