Grand Prairie, TX Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

Sec. 13-277 lists acts "presumed to be noise nuisances" when carried out with enough volume, intensity or duration to unreasonably annoy, distress or endanger a person of reasonable sensibilities. Subsection (4), Motor vehicle signal device, singles out "the continued or frequent sounding of any horn or other signal device on any automobile or vehicle, motorcycle, bus or other vehicle, except as a danger or warning signal," which covers an alarm system left blaring rather than briefly chirping to signal a genuine threat. Sec. 13-278(a) turns the presumption into an actual offense: a person commits an unlawful noise disturbance if the sound is a nuisance measured at the receiving property or boundary line, or is "plainly audible" to a peace officer at that boundary or at thirty feet from a public right-of-way, or if it exceeds the numeric caps in Sec.

13-283. , dropping to 58 dB(A) average and 78 dB(A) maximum overnight. Sound is measured under Sec. 13-276 with an ANSI-standard, A-weighted sound level meter, calibrated before each sampling event. Sec. 13-280's exceptions cover emergency vehicles and emergency utility or disaster work, not routine anti-theft alarms. A violation is a misdemeanor under Sec. 13-285, fined under Sec. 1-8, with each day of the violation a separate offense, and obstructing city noise-enforcement personnel is a separate offense under Sec. 13-285(b).