New Berlin, WI Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Chapter 171, Noise, addresses vehicle sound in two places. Section 171-1(B), Operation of motor vehicles, prohibits operating a vehicle so as to cause the tires to squeal, the horn to blow excessively, or the motor to race excessively, and sits alongside § 171-1(A)'s general ban on loud, disturbing or unnecessary sound that would annoy or disturb a person of ordinary sensibilities in a public street, alley, park or private residence. Separately, § 171-3, added in 2008 by Ord. No. 2385, targets engine compression braking, better known by the trademarked names Jacobs Engine Brake and Jake Brake.

No driver may use a mechanical braking device that creates the loud, explosive noise associated with engine compression braking anywhere in the City. The section carries two exceptions: it does not apply when engine braking is necessary to protect persons or property and cannot be avoided through an alternative braking system, and it does not apply to noise created by emergency vehicles responding to an emergency. Both the general vehicle-noise ban and the engine-brake ban sit in the same chapter as the City's broader amplified-noise rule referenced at § 171-1(C), which cross-references the amplifier licensing provisions of Chapter 152.

Enforcement of Chapter 171 runs through the City's Police Department, which can issue a citation for a squealing-tire, excessive-horn or engine-brake violation without needing to show a specific neighbor was disturbed, since the operation itself is the violation rather than the general annoyance standard that governs § 171-1(A).