Oak Park, IL Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

Section 17-1-30 of the Oak Park Village Code declares it unlawful to make or continue any loud, unnecessary, prolonged, or unusual noise that disturbs the peace, and subsection A singles out vehicle horns and signaling devices for prohibited automotive noise, functionally covering the repeated blaring of a car alarm or horn. The ordinance reaches the sounding of any horn or signaling device on an automobile, street car, motorcycle, or other vehicle on any street or public place in the Village, except when used as a genuine danger warning.

It specifically bars creating a repetitious sound with a signaling device for an unnecessary and unreasonable period of time, which covers a car alarm that cycles repeatedly without being silenced. The section also prohibits any signaling device that is not operated by hand or electricity, bars horns or whistles operated by engine exhaust, and bars sounding a signaling device merely because traffic is backed up. Because the list of prohibited noises in section 17-1-30 is expressly non-exclusive, officers can treat a malfunctioning or improperly triggered alarm under the section's general opening clause even where subsection A's specific language doesn't squarely fit.

The provision dates to the Village's 1981 Code and was last amended by Ordinance 2004-0-20 on May 17, 2004, and Ordinance 23-19 on March 13, 2023, which added the leaf-blower decibel limit elsewhere in the same section.