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Homeowner at wit's end over neighbor's noisy and dangerous morning routine: 'This is like torture'

"This could be deadly."

"This could be deadly."

Photo Credit: iStock

Where mornings are typically quiet, one homeowner has been woken up abruptly to the halting, hourslong sound of a diesel truck's engine.

"I moved out here for the peace and quiet," the Reddit user wrote in the r/BadNeighbors subreddit. Ever since their neighbor moved in, he "has started his big diesel truck between 5am-6:30am every single morning and left it idling at the minimum for 30 minutes."

The original poster usually wakes up for work at 7, meaning they are kept awake far before when they would like.

"This is like torture," they wrote.

There are myriad examples showcasing how complicated it can be to live next to neighbors who don't share the same values. When those values are at odds with each other, ultimately it leads to neighbors not being able to collaborate and form a solution for the greater good. 

In this case, noise and air pollution are creating a battleground — one that concerns the neighbor's perceived convenience versus respect for the Redditor. 

"The way the properties are setup, his driveway is next to my bedroom window. ... My head against the wall that is 15 feet from his exhaust," the OP explained.

The sheer amount of carbon monoxide that is being released in the hourlong timespan that the neighbor keeps their truck running, combined with the general noise disturbance, is evidence enough for intervention, according to Reddit users in the comment section. 

Every minute, an idling car produces enough exhaust to fill up to 150 balloons with harmful chemicals, according to a Merton Council report. It's said that an idling engine burns fuel less efficiently than when the vehicle is moving and produces more emissions than when traveling. 

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"This could be deadly. If you smell it, call the fire dept and report a carbon dioxide leak coming from somewhere. If you get a headache, go to the ER and report it as a carbon dioxide poisoning from neighbor's truck," one user wrote.

This view was shared.

"Along with the noise complaints, I would recommend that you go with pollution complaints as well," suggested another user. "Not just in an environmental way, but also in a 'toxic chemicals are being spewed into my bedroom every morning for an unreasonable amount of time, and it's literally making me ill because I wake up every morning breathing poison' kind of way."

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