The positive thinkers consider it surround sound.

Those trying to sleep consider it a nuisance, or worse.

Either way, every Miss-Lou community has its fair share of cars with blaring tunes.

From hip-hop to Top 40, houses on the main thoroughfares often don’t have much need for CD players of their own.

And the smallest of the Miss-Lou communities is trying to turn down the volume.

Ridgecrest Police Chief Heath Edwards is sick of the booming and he’s passing out $150 tickets to handle the problem.

Loud music is a crime inside the city limits of Natchez, Vidalia and Ferriday, too. But is it a crime worth committing?

Blasting your choice of ’80s music not only poses a potential risk to your hearing, but it makes you a dangerous driver. Drivers who can’t hear honking horns, emergency sirens or everyday sounds aren’t aware of their surroundings. They aren’t prepared to stop or move out of the way when a life may depend on it.

And that is not to mention the neighborhoods they are interrupting. Loud music disrupts family time, awakens children and scares sleeping adults.

For a problem fixed by something as easy as turning a dial, it’s absurd that tickets are necessary.

But we just hope the tickets speak loudly enough to be heard.