Clackamas County, OR Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)
Key Facts
- Horn limit
- 10 consecutive seconds maximum
- Exemption
- Genuine danger-warning honks
- Muffler/exhaust noise
- Governed by state ORS 815.250
- Enforcing agency
- Clackamas County Sheriff's Office
- Payment deadline
- 14 days after citation
Summary
Unincorporated Clackamas County bars sounding any vehicle horn, signaling device, or similar device on a right-of-way or in public space for more than ten consecutive seconds, under Code 6.05.040(B)(2). Genuine danger warnings are exempt. Loud exhaust and muffler noise fall instead under state law, ORS 815.250, which the Sheriff also enforces under Code 6.05.080.
2. Vehicle, Horns, Signaling Devices, and Similar Devices: The sounding of any horn, signaling device, or other similar device on any vehicle on any right of way or in the public space of the County, for more than ten consecutive seconds. The sounding of any horn, signaling device, or other similar device, as a danger warning is exempt from this prohibition.
3. Non-Emergency Signaling Devices: Sounding any amplified signal from any bell, chime, siren, whistle or similar device, intended primarily for non-emergency purposes, from any place for more than ten consecutive seconds in any hourly period.
4. Emergency Signaling Devices: The intentional sounding or permitting the sounding outdoors of any emergency signaling device including fire, burglar, civil defense alarm, car alarm, siren, whistle, or similar emergency signaling device, except in an emergency.
Full Breakdown
' The exemption is narrow: only sounding the horn 'as a danger warning' escapes the prohibition, so leaning on a horn in frustration, or a stuck alarm horn, is a citable offense the moment it passes the ten-second mark. 030(B) can still support enforcement independently. 250 and OAR 340-35-030 as existing legislation the Sheriff also has a mandate to enforce; so a loud aftermarket muffler or engine brake is addressed through the state vehicle code rather than the ten-second horn rule. 020(L) of what counts as a regulated sound source. 040 violation follow the same enforcement path as any other noise violation under the chapter.
Violations & Fines
A horn violation is enforced the same way as any Chapter 6.05 citation: fourteen days to pay the Board-set fine under 6.05.100 or request a compliance hearing under Section 2.07.040, with unresolved cases referable to County Counsel for civil prosecution in Circuit or District Court under 6.05.090(J). Payment is mailed to the Sheriff's Office at 9101 SE Sunnybrook Blvd., Clackamas, Oregon 97015.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I legally sound a car horn in unincorporated Clackamas County?
Is a loud exhaust or muffler covered by this ordinance?
What happens if I get cited for honking too long?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Clackamas County
Compare Clackamas County to another location·View the Oregon noise ordinances overview
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