Fairfield, CT Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Fairfield's Noise chapter treats motor vehicles differently from other noise sources. Rather than setting its own dBA limits for cars and trucks, § 78-5B incorporates the state standard by reference: all motor vehicles operated within the Town's limits are subject to the noise standards and decibel levels set out in the regulations of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, cited in the code as Sections 14-80a-la through 14-80a-10a, now codified at Connecticut General Statutes § 14-80a, Maximum Permissible Noise Levels for Vehicles. Separately, § 78-8 lists conduct 'specifically prohibited' regardless of the general dBA table, and subsection B targets vehicle-related impulse noise: vehicle backfiring, engine racing, and unnecessary vehicular horn blowing that annoys or disturbs the quiet, comfort or repose of persons.

That subsection caps impulse noise, defined in § 78-2 as sound of short duration with an abrupt onset and rapid decay, at 80 dBA during nighttime hours and 100 dBA at any time, regardless of source. A vehicle's stereo and muffler are both named examples of a 'sound production device' under § 78-2, meaning loud vehicle stereo noise is also independently subject to the plainly audible standard in § 78-5A rather than the state DMV vehicle-noise regulations. Enforcement of any of these vehicle-noise provisions runs through the Fairfield Police Department under § 78-6, which can act on a complaint or on its own observation, since § 78-6F removes any requirement for a signed complaint before enforcing the chapter.