Newark, OH Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 432.35 opens with the standard: no person shall disturb the good order and quiet of the City by making unnecessary noises. Division (a) names squealing the tires on the pavement or accelerating or stopping a motor vehicle in a noisy manner unless an emergency makes the noise necessary. Division (b) covers racing the motor so the muffler or tailpipe of an automobile, truck or motorcycle makes a loud and unnecessary noise, regardless of the type of muffler or tailpipe installed. Division (c) is the catch-all for other noises of any kind made through a motor vehicle of any type if unnecessary in its operation.

Equipment rules reinforce it. Section 438.21(a)(1) requires every motor vehicle and motorcycle with an internal combustion engine to have a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise, bars any muffler cutout, bypass or similar device on a highway, and requires baffle plates on every motorcycle muffler. Section 440.11 makes it unlawful to operate on a city street a vehicle with an engine compression brake that lacks a muffler in good working order; the fine is not more than $1,000, and one-third of fines collected is credited to the Division of Police.

The Noise Control chapter adds the stereo rule. Section 634.04(a)(9)(B) prohibits operating a radio, sound amplifier or similar device in or on a motor vehicle on a public right of way or public space in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance at fifty feet. Section 634.04(a)(4) prohibits a vehicle without a working muffler or sound dissipative device and removing one, and (a)(5)B prohibits rapid acceleration that makes the exhaust emit a loud, cracking or chattering noise or leaves tire marks, called peeling.