Laurens County, SC Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Laurens County Code § 18-21, part of the county's noise nuisance article for the unincorporated area, lists specific loud noises as common nuisances. Subsection (1) covers radios, tape players, loudspeakers, amplified or unamplified musical instruments and any other sound-producing device played inside a vehicle or building loud enough to unreasonably disturb the quiet, comfort or peace of the public or private residents. Subsection (4) bars sounding any horn or signaling device on an automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle on any street, road or highway for an unnecessary or unreasonable period, or with a volume that creates an unreasonably loud or harsh sound; the ban does not apply to a horn used as a danger warning, and emergency vehicles may use warning sounds at any time.

Subsection (5) separately bans motor vehicle exhausts without mufflers or with inefficient or ineffective mufflers, reaching straight-piped or gutted-muffler vehicles. Enforcement runs through Sec. 18-24: a deputy may first advise a driver and request compliance before any charge is written, and no citation issues until the driver has had a chance to abate the noise without penalty. The complaints of three or more residents, or one resident plus the deputy's own observation, count as prima facie evidence the noise occurred. Sec. 18-23 tells officers to weigh volume, time of day and the character of the area, and notes the article does not override the county's separate go-kart and ATV rules.