Passaic, NJ Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Under § 193-5A, no one may operate a motor vehicle or motorcycle unless it carries its original muffler and exhaust components (or an equivalent replacement) in good working order and constant operation, regardless of the sound level produced, and no one may remove or disable a muffler except for maintenance, repair or replacement. Section 193-5D separately bars playing a radio, tape player or similar device inside or on a vehicle so loudly that it creates noise audible 50 feet away on a public right-of-way or public space: the city's functional car-stereo rule.

A companion horn provision, § 193-5B, prohibits sounding a horn except as a warning of danger and caps any horn or signaling device at 100 dBA measured at 25 feet. Numeric ceilings for the vehicle itself appear in § 193-4's Table I: a standard passenger vehicle under 10,000 pounds is capped at 80 db at 15 feet; heavier trucks and motor carriers engaged in interstate commerce top out at 86 db (35 mph or under) and 90 db (over 35 mph); motorcycles are capped at 82/86 db.

Enforcement runs through the Police Department's noise control officers, who may stop a vehicle reasonably suspected of a violation. A summons for a bad muffler under § 193-5A can be revoked if the owner brings the vehicle to the police station for inspection after repairing the exhaust within five days, per § 193-7B.