Greensboro, NC Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 18-50(c) makes it unlawful to play a "radio, tape recorder, cassette player, compact disc, or other similar device for reproducing sound" in or on a motor vehicle on a public street, highway, or in a public or private parking lot or park, or a drive-through, "if the sound generated is audible at a distance of thirty (30) feet from sound producing equipment." Section 18-50(e) separately targets vehicles operated so as to create noise: "[u]sing any automobile, motorcycle, or vehicle so out of repair, altered, maintained, or operated in such manner as to create unreasonably loud or disturbing noise including, but not limited to, engaging in jackrabbit starts, spinning tires, racing engines, or other such operation." Section 18-50(k) requires mufflers on engines: operating a blower, fan, steam engine or internal combustion engine "unless the noise emitted there from is sufficiently muffled and the engine is equipped with a muffler device in good working condition and designed to manufacturer's specifications." All three fall under the article's general finding in § 18-48 that unreasonably loud noise is enacted pursuant to G.S. § 160A-184, and any of them independently supports a citation once an officer measures or judges the sound as unreasonably loud and disturbing under § 18-49's factors (time of day, proximity to residences, volume and zoning).