Haverhill, MA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Haverhill City Code Chapter 182, Noise, prohibits operating a 'loud amplification device or similar equipment' in or on a motor vehicle that is moving or standing in a public way (§ 182-9), and separately bans the same devices on any public way or place (§ 182-10) and inside a dwelling or its grounds (§ 182-11). Section 182-4B defines a loud amplification device as a radio, television, phonograph, stereo, record player, tape player, cassette player, compact disc player, loudspeaker or sound amplifier operated so that it creates 'unreasonable or excessive noise,' which the same section defines numerically: sound measured above 50 dBA between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., above 70 dBA at all other hours, or any noise plainly audible at 100 feet.

Any police officer may enforce the chapter, and under § 182-16 an arresting officer may seize the offending stereo or amplifier as evidence, hold it through the Police Department, and return it only after the criminal case concludes unless a court orders otherwise. Section 182-5 separately outlaws car alarms and anti-theft noisemakers that do not shut off within five minutes. First-time violators face a $50 fine under § 182-15A, rising to $100 for landlords who allow repeat violations at a residence and $300 for each offense after that; the City pursues fines through the noncriminal disposition process of MGL c.

40, § 21D, or by criminal complaint under MGL c. 272, § 53, if that process fails. Section 182-17 exempts police, fire and civil-defense activities and permitted parades or performances licensed under § 182-1 or § 182-3.