Bakersfield, CA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)
Key Facts
- Audibility limit
- Not audible beyond 50 feet from the vehicle
- Applies to
- Radios, tape/CD players and similar devices
- Covers vehicle state
- Moving, stopped, parked, occupied or unoccupied
- Time restriction
- None: applies at all hours
- Section
- BMC § 9.22.140
Summary
Bakersfield Municipal Code § 9.22.140 bans playing a radio, tape, CD or similar device in or on a vehicle, moving, stopped, parked, occupied or not, loud enough to be heard more than 50 feet away, with exceptions for emergency vehicles, utility vehicles and hazard warnings.
Except as otherwise allowed under this chapter, no person shall use or operate or permit to be used or operated a radio, tape player, tape recorder, compact disc player, or any similar device in or attached to a vehicle whether moving, stopped or parked, occupied or unoccupied, which is audible to a person of normal hearing sensitivity more than fifty feet from such vehicle or, as to any vehicle not located on a public street, so audible more than fifty feet from the property line of the property on which such vehicle is located. This section shall not apply to acts proscribed by Vehicle Code Section 27007 after the effective date of such section, to any sound system being operated to request assistance or to warn of a hazardous situation, to any authorized emergency vehicle or vehicles operated by gas, electric, communications or water utilities.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 5221, passed July 15, 2026).
Full Breakdown
140, in the amplified-sound article of the noise chapter, targets in-vehicle audio equipment specifically. It makes it unlawful to use or operate, or permit to be used or operated, a radio, tape player, tape recorder, compact disc player, or any similar device in or attached to a vehicle, whether the vehicle is moving, stopped or parked, and whether occupied or unoccupied, if it is audible to a person of normal hearing sensitivity more than fifty feet from the vehicle. For a vehicle not on a public street, the same fifty-foot measurement runs from the property line of the lot where the vehicle sits rather than from the vehicle itself.
The section carves out several exceptions: it doesn't apply to acts already proscribed by California Vehicle Code § 27007 (the state's own vehicle sound-equipment law), to a sound system being used to request assistance or warn of a hazardous situation, to authorized emergency vehicles, or to vehicles operated by gas, electric, communications or water utilities. Unlike the construction-hours or refrigerator-truck rules, this section carries no time-of-day exception, the fifty-foot audibility threshold applies around the clock. 160, deliberately loud stationary sound equipment on a vehicle can additionally trigger those permit and revocation provisions.
Violations & Fines
Operating a vehicle stereo or similar device audible beyond fifty feet is punishable under the general penalty in Chapter 1.40, applicable at any hour since the section has no daytime-only exception. Police may cite the driver or, for a parked or unoccupied vehicle, the person who left the equipment operating; repeated citations at the same address can also trigger the Chapter 9.22 service fee under § 9.22.060 for repeat enforcement responses.
Frequently Asked Questions
How loud can I play my car stereo in Bakersfield?
Does the fifty-foot rule apply while I'm parked in my own driveway?
Are any vehicles exempt from this noise limit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bakersfield
California rules heatmap·Compare Bakersfield to another location·View the California noise ordinances overview
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