There was a woman on the Kennebec Commuter's childhood street who used to complain until she was blue in the face about people driving through the neighborhood with their stereos up full blast and the vibrations from the bass reverberating and echoing through out the neighborhood.

Among her complaints were the loud booming scared neighborhood children and it was just plain annoying to people who lived on our street.

The problem became as such the police in the Kennebec Commuter's hometown made loud music in a vehicle a fineable offense (party poopers).

Things here in Maine's capital city aren't much different. In fact, driving with your stereo system up to the point where hearing loss is a possible consequence is against the law throughout the state.

The law came into effect about seven years ago, stating: "A person may not operate a sound system in a vehicle on a public way at a volume audible at a distance of greater than 25 feet and exceeds 85 decibels."

In other words, forget about having that annual tailgate with AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" at full volume, or peeling down Western Avenue on a beautiful sunny day with your radio cranked all the way.

Or take your chances and pay $50, the fine if you're a first time offender. It increases $50 with each subsequent offense, and will not exceed $150 after the third, according state law.

Thought the law may seem minor, it not only benefits residents and other drivers, it may help the driver themselves.

Dr. Bart Billings, a clinical psychologist, suggested in his study "Feeling the Music can be Dangerous to Your Health", drivers who insist on rocking out to loud music while driving reduce their peripheral vision reaction time by 100 milliseconds.

"Since many road hazards emerge from the periphery, drivers listening to loud music are less safe," the good doctor wrote in the study.

Furthermore, the noise may not alert the driver to other commuters in a hurry to get somewhere -- like an ambulance.

In an article titled "Hearing Conservation for Commuters," Kerri Waldowski raised concerns that drivers with pumping sound systems may fall deaf to an emergency vehicle with their sirens on.

"Listening level often surpass the volume emitted from emergency sirens," Waldowski wrote in the article, adding the noise "can be distracting" overall.

Augusta Police Sgt. Mike Small said the police department fields plenty of noise complaints, but added the majority couldn't be pinned solely on someone's blasting sound system.

"Mostly it's brakes or tires squealing," Small said. "I would guess in the summertime, though, when someone is sleeping with the windows open and car comes loudly cruising through at 1 in the morning, that could probably be a little annoying."

Follow Meghan Malloy's commuter blog and track the cheapest gasoline prices in town daily at www.kjon line.com.