Flint, MI Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 28-132 packs three separate vehicle noise rules into one equipment provision of Flint's traffic code.

Horns and warning devices. Every motor vehicle operated on a highway must carry a working horn, with a required range audible from 200 feet. The quoted text then limits how that horn may sound: no horn or other warning device may emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or whistle. The words "other warning device" extend the limit past the horn itself to anything else fitted to warn others. The standard is reasonableness, not a decibel number.

Sirens, whistles, and bells. This rule has two halves. No vehicle shall be equipped with a siren, whistle, or bell, and no person shall use one upon a vehicle. Having the device mounted is covered even if it is never sounded, and sounding one is covered regardless of who installed it. The only exception is the one the ordinance itself provides for authorized emergency vehicles.

Muffler cut-outs. No person shall use a muffler cut-out, bypass, or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a highway. The phrase "similar device" means the rule is not limited to parts sold under those two names. It reaches devices that let engine noise escape unmuffled. This rule is written around use on a highway, in contrast with the siren rule, which also reaches how the vehicle is equipped.

Because § 28-132 sits in the equipment article of the traffic code alongside brake and lighting requirements, Flint enforces it as a vehicle-equipment violation and not as a general noise-nuisance citation. A driver stopped under this section is answering for what is installed on or used with the vehicle, not for a neighbor's complaint about sound levels.