The house shakes, the TV is drowned out and earplugs are insufficient.
Several evenings a week, the parking lot outside Ingela’s apartment is invaded by pounding cars.
– This is an incredibly nice district otherwise, so it’s a great shame. I don’t understand the joy of playing this loud music, she says.
At 67-year-old Ingela’s home in the leafy residential area in central Karlstad, the walls shake. Basically every evening, about 20 cars occupy the large fast food parking lot, a stone’s throw from Ingela’s apartment.
– It can start early in the afternoon and last until six in the morning, says Ingela.
She tells us that the partying car enthusiasts tend to place their huge speakers on the car roofs and how they seem to compare the capacity of their music systems.
Several times she has been forced to call the police.
– But it’s not something I do in the first place. They can stand here for a while and if they disturb too much, I’ll have to call. Otherwise you get a bit of a panic, says Ingela.
“They were completely in despair”
Ingela’s house is closest to the parking lot. But several nearby apartment buildings are also affected by the disturbing pounding that is characterized by high bass.
– I have spoken to my elderly neighbors who had their relatives visiting over midsummer and they were completely in despair. They haven’t been allowed to sleep at all, says Ingela.
She can’t understand the fun of hanging out on an asphalt parking lot in midsummer itself. And it’s not just the elderly who find it difficult.
– It can be so bad that the neighbor’s children cannot sleep at night because the beds shake so much.
Heavy-duty techno
Ingela describes herself as someone who likes all types of music.
– But they don’t always play music, often it’s just a lot of techno sounds that you can’t even dig into. And at three or four in the morning you might not want to listen to music at all, she laughs.
She’s getting used to it. Ingela has lived in her apartment for 23 years and for at least 15 of these, the music has disturbed her existence.
But now she feels that the dunk problems have escalated, something that the police can also confirm.
– It has become one of our most common conversations and it is great that the public is reacting. We also have certain specific areas that we know are problem areas, says Sophia Jiglind, press spokesperson in police region Mitt.
The police: “No consideration of consequences”
According to Jiglind, these are often tractors with young drivers who occupy larger parking lots, gas stations and forest areas to “hang out” and play their music.
– There is no consequence thinking with them and you wish they were more respectful. But that is their interest, says Sophia Jiglind.
Since July 1, 2021, the police may issue fines of SEK 1,000 to those who play loud and disturbing music, for example from a car.
– What we can do if we find the people and have the opportunity to send a patrol is to reject them from the place and issue fines for outrageous behavior, says Sophia Jiglind and confirms that they have been fined on several occasions.