Question: When the new Boom aircraft factory is built near Piedmont Triad International Airport will there be noise restrictions about sonic booms over nearby residential areas? I live on the eastern side of Kernersville and aircraft pass over my house daily. I can’t imagine what it would be like living with sonic booms on a regular basis.
Answer: You’re safe from sonic booms. Restrictions are already in place. The Federal Aviation Administration does not allow commercial jets to produce sonic booms over land, only over open water, according to information about Boom Supersonic on the landatpti.com website.
“Overture is designed with the latest noise-reducing technologies. While traveling over land, Overture will create sound at approximately the same level as large jets already in service at the airport,” it said.
Overture is the name of the aircraft that Boom Supersonic will build at PTI.
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Boom Supersonic’s conceptual rendering of the Overture jet, which will be built at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro.
“Boom is mindful of community noise and working to ensure minimal impacts when the company begins flights at PTI,” it said.
Boom Supersonic, based in Denver, announced in January that it would build a plant in Greensboro at PTI to build its supersonic aircraft. It is expected to bring more than 1,700 jobs to the area with an average salary of $68,792 and pump about $32.3 billion into the North Carolina economy over 20 years, according to the January announcement.
Blake Scholl, the CEO of Boom Supersonic, told CBS news show “60 Minutes” in November what his goal is ultimately: “What I want is to go anywhere in the world in four hours for a hundred bucks.”
Q: Are mobility scooters allowed on the streets and what restrictions are imposed on their usage? I have seen several that even have lights (front & tail lights/ flashers) on the rear. What restrictions are there if any before you would have to get or wear a helmet or moped plate?
A: Kira Boyd, spokeswoman for the Winston-Salem Police Department, said that N.C. General Statutes govern mobility scooters, which the law calls “an electric personal assistive mobility device.”
“NCGS 20-175.5 and G.S. 20-175.6 explain the requirements of motorized wheelchairs. They cannot exceed 15 mph and are not to be used on roadways with speed limits greater than 25 mph. They are allowed on sidewalks. Essentially, they are classified as a pedestrian,” she said.
NCGS 20-4.01(7b) defines an electric personal assistive mobility device as “a self-balancing nontandem two-wheeled device, designed to transport one person, with a propulsion system that limits the maximum speed of the device to 15 miles per hour or less.”
NCGS 20-175.5 says that a person operating a scooter is subject to all the laws, ordinances, regulations, rights and responsibilities that would otherwise apply to a pedestrian, but is not subject to Part 10 of this Article or any other law, ordinance or regulation otherwise applicable to motor vehicles. Part 10 covers operating vehicles and “rules of the road.”
According to NCGS 20-175.6 (b), the devices are not required to be registered.
A person operating such a device has to yield to pedestrians and other devices operated by people.
The motorcycle law, which is found in NCGS 20-140.4, says that you can’t operate a motorcycle or moped on a highway or public vehicular area unless the operator and passengers are wearing a helmet secured with a retention strap and it complies with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218.
Q: I’ve gotten greeting cards from several different organizations. I didn’t order them and have no use for them. Do I have to return or pay for the cards?
A: You can consider the cards a gift and dispose of them any way you choose, knowing that you have the federal government behind you.
According to the U.S. Postal Service, if a company or charitable organization sends you unsolicited items in the mail, you are not required to pay for the item or return it.
“Whatever you do, don’t pay for it — and don’t get conned if the sender follows up with a phone call or visit. By law, unsolicited merchandise is yours to keep,” said the USPS.
The Federal Trade Commission said that “charitable organizations can send you merchandise and ask for a contribution. You may keep such merchandise as a free gift.”
You may want to check with nearby retirement communities, nursing homes or daycare centers to see if they might want the cards or you can put them in the recycling bin.
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