Bristol, CT Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

Section 15-21(d)(2) folds vehicle sound-amplifying equipment, car stereos, subwoofers, and similar speaker systems mounted on or in a motor vehicle, into the same numeric table used for stationary sources in section 15-21(b): no more than 62 dBA reaching an industrial or business receptor, 55 dBA reaching a residential receptor by day, and 45 dBA reaching a residential receptor at night, measured outward from the emitting vehicle's zone. Section 15-21(c)(1) layers on a hard ceiling: regardless of zone or time, no source, including an amplified vehicle stereo, may emit above 80 dBA, and impulse noise from bass-heavy systems is separately capped at 80 dB peak at night and 100 dB peak at any hour.

Measurements follow section 15-20's ANSI S1.4 sound-level-meter procedure, taken roughly one foot beyond the vehicle's location and inside the affected property. This subsection is distinct from section 15-21(d)(1), which separately adopts the Connecticut DMV's equipment standard for muffler and engine noise; the (d)(2) sound-amplifying-device rule targets amplified audio specifically, the kind of bass that carries through walls or across a parking lot. The Bristol Police Department enforces the standard on complaint or on its own initiative under section 15-24, and the noise chapter's variance process in section 15-22 is open to anyone who needs relief for a scheduled activity.