Boise, ID Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

Boise City Code section 6-16-2, part of Title 6, Chapter 16 (Vehicle Amplified Sounds, added by Ordinance 25-17 in 2017 and amended by Ordinance 13-23 in March 2023), targets the low-frequency, bass-heavy sound systems that carry well beyond a vehicle's interior. Subsection A makes it unlawful to operate or permit the operation of any sound amplification device in or on a motor vehicle so that the sound is plainly audible fifty feet or more from the source, whether the vehicle is moving or parked. Subsection B separately bans starting, driving or sitting stationary in a vehicle in a manner that causes unreasonable noise, including unnecessary engine revving, audible at that same fifty-foot distance.

The chapter's purpose clause in section 6-16-1 frames the rule as protecting the health, safety, welfare and quality of life of residents from excessive vehicular amplified sound. A handful of narrow exemptions apply under section 6-16-3, covering emergency vehicle sirens, required safety warning devices, burglar and emergency alarms, advertising sound systems such as ice cream trucks, and permitted special-event sound within its approved hours, but a car stereo or subwoofer audible at fifty feet outside those categories is a straight violation. Section 6-16-4 classifies any breach of the chapter as an infraction subject to the penalty in section 1-4-2 of the Boise City Code, excludes court costs and fees from that penalty, and specifically denies the right to a jury trial, sending any contested citation or complaint to a bench trial instead.