Madera, CA Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Municipal Code Chapter 9, Regulation of Motor Vehicles on Public and Private Property, targets off-road-style riding rather than ordinary street traffic. 03 bar riding motor vehicles, motorcycles, minibikes, trail bikes, dune buggies, motor scooters, motor-driven cycles and jeeps on public property not open to vehicular use, or on another's private land, and bar operating them in a way that disturbs a neighborhood's peace through noise, dust, smoke or fumes. 04, Condition of Vehicles, builds on that by requiring every such vehicle to be equipped and functioning with all the noise inhibitors necessary for it to be lawfully driven on a public highway, banning any cutout or bypass system, and requiring a spark arrestor large enough to prevent fire.

Chapter 9 carries no penalty section of its own. 01, which since a 1981 amendment makes ordinance violations infractions under Cal. Gov't Code § 36900 unless a later ordinance specifically designates the offense a misdemeanor; Chapter 9's 1977 ordinance was never so amended. Each day a vehicle runs unlawfully equipped counts as a separate offense, and the condition can be treated as a public nuisance subject to summary abatement. Madera Police enforce the section on public streets and open lots, and it applies whether the vehicle is being ridden on city property or on a neighbor's land without permission.