North Charleston, SC Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

' The section does not define a decibel threshold or single out any particular noise source, so it reaches loud stereo systems, modified exhaust and mufflers, revving engines and similar vehicle noise as long as the noise is unreasonable, excessive or unusual for the circumstances. It is a companion to section 13-126, which regulates non-vehicle noise such as lawn equipment and amplified sound, but the two sections are enforced differently because section 13-127 concerns vehicles in operation on the street. That distinction matters procedurally: section 1-16(a) of the Code specifically bars using a municipal ordinance summons 'to enforce violations of municipal ordinances regulating the use of motor vehicles on public roads,' so a section 13-127 violation cannot be handled with the summons-and-appear process the city uses for most ordinance offenses.

Instead, officers cite vehicle noise under the framework of section 11-1, which adopts South Carolina's traffic code, Title 56, Chapter 5 of the 1976 Code of Laws, as part of Chapter 11. 00, imprisonment of up to thirty days, or both, with each day of continuing violation chargeable as a separate offense. The ordinance derives from Ord. No. 2015-008, adopted February 26, 2015.