Oak Park, IL Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 17-1-30(G) of the Oak Park Village Code is the Village's vehicle-exhaust noise rule. It prohibits discharging the exhaust of any motor vehicle, along with a steam engine, stationary internal combustion engine, or motorboat, into the open air except through a muffler or other device that will effectively prevent loud or explosive noises. Applied to a car, truck, or motorcycle, that means a straight-piped exhaust, a punctured or removed muffler, or an aftermarket system that produces loud or explosive noise on Village streets violates the subsection, independent of the vehicle noise rules found in the Illinois Vehicle Code.

The provision sets no decibel meter reading or specific dB threshold for vehicles; the standard is whether the muffler or device effectively prevents loud or explosive exhaust noise, leaving the determination to the observing officer. It is grouped with the Village's other enumerated noise sources in section 17-1-30, including horn use, sound equipment, and street yelling, all falling under that section's opening ban on loud, unnecessary, prolonged, or unusual noise that disturbs the peace, a list the ordinance expressly says is not exclusive. The current text traces to the 1981 Code and was last amended by Ordinance 23-19 on March 13, 2023.