Fireworks have started

I don't use them much and do find them annoying when set off outside of the traditional celebration timescales, but as a youth I was setting them off left, right and centre, as soon as the shops started selling them. one day after dismantling a banger to make a "genie", something a friend's older brother told us about, my friend and I turned up at school with no eyebrows.
 
They've been going off around me for the last month or so already. I sound like a grumpy old man, but they just cause unnecessary damage and frighten animals. I'd be happy with them being restricted to organised displays as there really isn't any need for Joe Public to have a rocket going off in his garden that wouldn't look out of place on one of Saddam's Scud launchers.

cheesefest said:
My dad’s company car had one thrown at it when he was at some traffic lights. Caused damage to the roof and aerial.
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Two years ago, one of my neighbours was letting off massive rockets. One came down on my missus's car and shattered the sunroof putting us £100 out of pocket. I found the remains of it next to the car and it was a 6 inch hard plastic tube. If that had hit a person it would have caused some serious damage!
 
visibleman said:
My previous dogs didn't like balloons, especially when they went "pop"; they also didn't like hoovers/vacuum cleaners, brooms, mops and the garden hoses so we should ban all of those and apply prison sentences for anyone using them or purchasing them :)
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Yep, that’s exactly what I’ve suggested. In fact why don’t we just ban stupidity, we could start with you?
 
Ahleckz said:
A ban would stop shops selling them. Sure, there’d still be some illegal sales but it would be severely reduced. When they are made illegal, I don’t think the answer is to police those setting them off but enforce the banning of the sale of them in the first place.
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I’d love for the authorities to do as you suggest, and for you to be right about sales being severely reduced.
You go on to say that if a ban on fireworks sales was introduced, then the police should direct their energies at enforcing the ban on their sale.
This is where it would fall down, as I said above, if those charged with enforcing the laws are allowed to constantly ignore laws that they’re not interested in enforcing, the sale of fireworks will go on.
 
Kenai said:
dB alone without an indication of distance is a useless measurement.
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Sure and arguably there's other variables at play, especially with the outdoors. Although my point (in this case) was/is that balloons are pretty loud; off topic but one reason they're useful as a "pulse" source to excite rooms/locations for reverb measurements (i've used them for that exact purpose in the past).

Edit - So it's supposedly <120dB at 15m for an F3 firework. Fag packet maths suggests a balloon pop at 15m is ~127-130dB.
 
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How many people signed the petition last year? Has to be a certain amount for it to be raised by parliament, what happened to that?

Personally I think they should be restricted to events and not sold to the public but even if that happened they would still get hold of them although I would it would be a let less of an issue
 
Relentless81 said:
How many people signed the petition last year? Has to be a certain amount for it to be raised by parliament, what happened to that?

Personally I think they should be restricted to events and not sold to the public but even if that happened they would still get hold of them although I would it would be a let less of an issue
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Over 300,000. The government said no.


Last year, the Petitions Committee carried out an extensive inquiry into fireworks, which ran from February to November 2019. The Committee asked for evidence on the balance and effectiveness of existing legislation, the role and safety of public and private displays, and the needs of particular groups (such as veterans and people with disabilities), and animals. They received written and oral evidence representing a range of stakeholders, including from members of the public, representative bodies, organisations and charities, all with varying views on fireworks.

The Committee’s final report, published on 5 November 2019, concluded that they could not support a ban on the public buying and using fireworks. Their reasoning for no further legislative action was:

The likely effects on community groups and their local fundraising efforts;

The concerns about ineffectiveness of a ban and resulting unintended and counter-productive consequences for public safety;

The substantial economic effect a ban would have, in particular, on those who have built their livelihoods on the fireworks industry.

We agree with the conclusion of the Petitions Committee. In the Government’s response to the Committee, we also agreed that a ban could have the unintended consequence of pushing the market underground, driving individuals to source fireworks from illegitimate or unsafe suppliers. A ban could also prove detrimental to communities for cultural or financial reasons.

Nevertheless, the Government has committed to take further action to promote the safe and considerate use of fireworks and our actions will include:

Developing a public awareness campaign on the safe use of fireworks;

Engaging with animal charities to further discuss their work related to animal welfare issues;

Engaging with Local Authorities to understand the issues they face with regard to fireworks;

Engaging with the fireworks industry to discuss any additional action they might take to address the concerns raised around fireworks packaging appealing to underage individuals.

These actions show that the Government has been listening to the concerns that have been raised about fireworks and that work is continuing.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
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Street said:
Two years ago, one of my neighbours was letting off massive rockets. One came down on my missus's car and shattered the sunroof putting us £100 out of pocket. I found the remains of it next to the car and it was a 6 inch hard plastic tube. If that had hit a person it would have caused some serious damage!
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A friend was at home a few years back and heard this bang very close by. The following morning, she noticed that a firework landed at on her fence and damaged the panel. Even more annoyed as she only had new fencing done 3-4 weeks earlier
 
I like to find the loudest banging firework I can let off in my garden just so all your grumpy sods can have a moan up.

I only agree with it on the one night a year though for the kids mainly (and maybe me)
 
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