Indianapolis Revised Code section 391-302(c)(6) bans operating any vehicle, engine, or motor with straight pipes, muffler cutouts, bypasses, or exhaust that bypasses the muffler, and section 391-302(c)(1) prohibits unreasonable horn use, with off-property nighttime audibility (10 PM-7 AM) treated as prima facie evidence.
Indianapolis regulates vehicle noise through several enumerated provisions of section 391-302(c). Subsection (c)(1) ('Horns and signaling devices') prohibits 'the sounding of any horn or signaling device on any automobile, motorcycle, or other vehicle in any public street or public place of the city, in a manner that makes unreasonable noise and continuing to do so after being asked to stop.' Subsection (c)(6) ('Exhausts blowers, engines, and motors') prohibits operating any engine, motor, or power unit in a manner that makes unreasonable noise, and specifically bars 'operation or possession in any public street or public place of the city of any motor vehicle, motorcycle, or other machine powered by an engine or motor equipped with straight pipes, baffles, muffler cutouts, bypasses, an expansion chamber, or any exhaust system constructed or capable of being operated so that the exhaust bypasses the muffler or noise-reducing device.' Operation of such an unmuffled engine in a public place between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., or in a manner plainly audible off the property during those hours, is prima facie evidence of a violation. Subsection (c)(7) separately covers vehicles 'so out of repair, or so loaded' as to create 'unreasonable grating, grinding, rattling, or other noise.' Construction, demolition, and maintenance equipment operators are exempted from the engine-noise prima facie rules under the closing language of (c)(6).
First violation in any twelve-month period: civil penalty via the ordinance violations bureau. Second violation: not less than $250.00; subsequent violations: not less than $500.00 (section 391-302(d)).
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