Franklin County, OH Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 4513.221 | Local regulation of passenger car and motorcycle noise.

(A) The board of county commissioners of any county, and the board of township trustees of any township subject to section 505.17 of the Revised Code, may regulate passenger car and motorcycle noise on streets and highways under their jurisdiction. Such regulations shall include maximum permissible noise limits measured in decibels, subject to the requirements of this section.

(B) Regulations establishing maximum permissible noise limits measured in decibels shall prohibit the operation, within the speed limits specified herein, of a passenger car or motorcycle of a type subject to registration at any time or under any condition of load, acceleration, or deceleration in such manner as to exceed the following maximum noise limits, based on a distance of not less than fifty feet from the center of the line of travel:

(1) For passenger cars:

(a) When operated at a speed of thirty-five miles per hour or less, a maximum noise limit of seventy decibels;

(b) When operated at a speed of more than thirty-five miles per hour, a maximum noise limit of seventy-nine decibels.

(2) For motorcycles:

(a) When operated at a speed of thirty-five miles per hour or less, a maximum noise limit of eighty-two decibels;

(b) When operated at a speed of more than thirty-five miles per hour, a maximum noise limit of eighty-six decibels.

(F) Whoever violates any maximum noise limit established as provided in division (B) of this section or any of the prohibitions authorized in division (E) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.