Beaumont, CA Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

Section 9.02.110(C) of the Beaumont Municipal Code requires an audible alarm system affixed to a motor vehicle to be equipped with an automatic shutoff that shuts the alarm off within a maximum of 15 minutes from the time of activation. The alarm cannot emit a sound similar to the sirens on emergency vehicles or those used for civil defense purposes. The code settles the sound question directly: any variable tone, as opposed to one steady pitch, is treated as similar to an emergency vehicle siren. An alarm that warbles or cycles between pitches therefore fails the rule even if it stops on time.

The remedy is unusually direct. The Police Department is authorized to abate the nuisance of a vehicle alarm that sounds beyond 15 minutes by using any means necessary to disconnect it. The expense of disconnecting the alarm becomes a lien against the motor vehicle and is also the personal obligation of the owner.

The rule sits in the Chapter 9.02 noise code adopted in Ord. No. 1067 on January 19, 2016, and it operates alongside the horn rule in Section 9.02.110(B), which limits horns and other loud warning devices to situations where life, health or property are endangered or the law requires them. Section 9.02.030 includes automobiles, trucks, vans, buses, motorcycles, minibikes and go-carts in its definition of motor-driven vehicle. Section 9.02.100(C) exempts emergency response warning noises and fire alarm systems from the chapter, but that exemption does not reach a private vehicle alarm.