by: JBH Wonders

The Suggested Links are websites that I frequently visit. These are informative and entertaining perhaps. I offer no endorsement of them here and I am not being compensated for posting their links.

Note: The Links to Drawings and Documents for Wood Projects and the Hand Pump Project are Now Working Again.

***Edit from JBH Wonders daughter: This blog belonged to my father. He unfortunately lost his battle with cancer in March 2018. I'm sure he would still welcome comments on any of his postings, but please respect his wishes to keep them short and CLEAN, and please be RESPECTFUL of him. He was a brilliant man of few words with lots of good information to offer, which is why he created this blog. Thank you to all his faithful readers. -Jessica

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Those Infernal Backing Beepers

By JBH Wonders

I started this article before doing any research on the topic of backup beeping devices. Since doing the research, I find that this is a well-published topic and most people feel the same way that I do about this obnoxious form of noise pollution. But, here is my two cents, for what it is worth.


It is 7:30AM and someone is backing their car, pickup truck, or RV out of their driveway. No one knows and no one cares.

It is 4AM in the morning. The garbage truck next door is backing out of the neighbor’s driveway. “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”.

It is Sunday afternoon and I am mowing the lawn. I am backing the garden tractor and the push mower constantly. The drone of the engine is all that is heard. Nothing extra.

There is a bulldozer grading dirt for a new construction. The area is fenced off and the only people anywhere near the bulldozer are seasoned construction workers in hard hats. The bulldozer has to back up to clear the blade. “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”.

There is a tractor tilling soil on the back forty. The farmer needs to back the tractor a few feet to corner the field. “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”.

I am at Wall Mart and one of those electric carts is backing up at 0.05MPH in the next isle. “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”, “Beep”.

When I briskly back up my shopping cart, there is no extra audible sound that I am doing this. I just make sure that no one is behind me before I change directions.

And when the toilet backs up, …. Well, never mind about that one.

The beeper requirements come from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The individual states also may have their own requirements

Anyone who can see and has their wits about them can determine which direction something is moving and if it becomes dangerously close to you. And, it doesn’t matter to a blind person which way something is moving unless it is getting too close. Should everything beep no matter which way it is going? How about adding different sounding beeps for forward and left/right movements? How about a sound that changes pitch depending on how fast something is moving? Put together, this could be a musical festival at any construction site or shopping center.

 “Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise…” Isaiah 17:12

“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;” I Thessalonians 4:11

“…lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” I Timothy 2:2
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1 comment:

Comments are welcome but please keep them short and CLEAN.
Edit from JBHWonders daughter: This blog belonged to my father. He unfortunately lost his battle with cancer in March 2018. I'm sure he would still welcome comments on any of his postings, but please respect his wishes to keep them short and CLEAN, and I'll add RESPECTFUL of him. He was a brilliant man of few words with lots of good information to offer, which is why he created this blog. Thank you to all his faithful readers. -Jessica

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