Owensboro, KY Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

Sec. 17-8(b), titled unlawful noises emanating from motor vehicles on public right-of-way, prohibits any person operating or occupying a motor vehicle on publicly owned property, a park, right-of-way, easement, alley, off-street parking lot, or any other publicly accessible area from playing a radio, tape or CD player, loudspeaker, sound amplification system or similar device so that the sound is plainly audible to another person 50 feet from the device. The section defines plainly audible as any sound clearly heard by unimpaired auditory senses at a direct line of sight of 50 or more feet, and it specifically states that words or phrases need not be discernible and that the covered sound includes bass reverberation, meaning a thumping subwoofer counts even if no lyrics can be made out.

The subsection is limited to publicly accessible locations; it does not by its own terms reach a stereo played on private property, though the general residential noise ban in Sec. 17-8(a) can still apply there depending on the circumstances. The Owensboro Police Department enforces this chapter, and none of the Sec. 17-8(c) exceptions for emergency alarms, festivals, or power equipment apply to a vehicle sound system.