Johnston County, NC Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Johnston County Code § 12-32(d)(5) declares it a loud and disturbing noise violation to use any automobile, motorcycle, ATV or other motor vehicle that is so out of repair, so modified from factory settings or equipment, or so loaded or operated as to create loud grating, grinding, rattling or other noise from the vehicle or its operation, or that otherwise creates an unreasonably loud or disturbing noise as defined elsewhere in the article. The clause sits alongside a separate horn provision in subsection (d)(2), which bars sounding a horn or signal device, other than as a danger signal or as required by law, so as to create an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or sounding it for an unreasonable period.

Both provisions draw on the same reasonableness test set out in subsections (a) through (c): whether the noise is recurrent, whether it has been mechanically enhanced, its proximity to residential structures, and the time of day it occurs. Section 12-33 exempts noise from properly repaired trains and from emergency vehicles engaged in their proper functions, but it does not exempt a private vehicle that is simply out of repair or modified to run louder than factory specification; that vehicle remains squarely covered by subsection (d)(5) regardless of when it is driven.