Southampton, NY Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Town Code § 235-1 defines "noise pollution" to expressly include operating a radio, receiving set, phonograph or other sound-producing device in a vehicle in a manner that disturbs the peace, quiet and comfort of neighboring inhabitants and is plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet from the vehicle. Section 235-2A's general prohibition then bars any person controlling a source of noise from permitting that condition to exist. The 50-foot audibility test lets Southampton Town Police and Ordinance Enforcement officers cite a driver or vehicle owner without a sound meter: if a car stereo can be clearly heard from 50 feet away and it disturbs nearby residents, that establishes the violation on its own.

The chapter separately sets numeric decibel and octave-band limits (65 dBA daytime, 50 dBA nighttime in residential districts, higher in commercial and industrial districts) under § 235-3, but § 235-4A(8) exempts the lawful operation of properly equipped motor vehicles on public ways from those decibel standards, so ordinary engine and traffic noise from a street-legal, properly muffled car passing through is not itself a violation. It is the amplified sound source, radios, stereos and speakers inside or on a vehicle, that the 50-foot rule targets.

Violations are prosecuted under § 235-6: a fine up to $1,000 or up to 15 days imprisonment, or both, rising to $2,500 to $10,000 for a third offense within 18 months. Anyone present among a group whose collective noise violates the chapter is rebuttably presumed under § 235-5 to have participated. Complaints go to Southampton Town Police or the Ordinance Enforcement division of Public Safety, and officers document the disturbance and distance at the scene rather than waiting for a lab-grade decibel reading.