Tigard, OR Noise Ordinances: Vehicle Noise (2026)

Section 6.02.440.B of the Tigard Municipal Code lists several vehicle-related acts that violate the noise article when they exceed the limits in Section 6.02.430. Subsection B.1 covers the sounding of any horn or signal device or any other device on any automobile, motorcycle, truck, bus or other vehicle while in motion, except as a danger signal. Subsection B.2 covers radios, tape and compact disc players and stereo systems, including those installed in or on vehicles. Subsection B.3 bars a gong or siren on any vehicle other than police, fire or other emergency vehicles, except during sanctioned parades. Subsection B.4 reaches any automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle used so out of repair or in such a manner as to create loud or unnecessary sounds, grating, grinding, rattling or other noise, which is the code's coverage for a failed muffler or a rattling body.

The numeric tests in Section 6.02.430 apply: at a property with a noise-sensitive unit, 40 dB from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and 50 dB from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; sound plainly audible inside a unit overnight; and sound unnecessarily loud at a distance of 100 feet in a park, street or other public place. On property with no noise-sensitive unit, the limits are 60 dB overnight and 75 dB at other times. Exhaust brakes (jake brakes) are covered by a stricter standalone ban in Section 6.02.440.A that applies regardless of noise level.

Section 6.02.450 exempts emergency vehicles and equipment, and Section 6.02.450.G exempts regular vehicular traffic on premises open to the public but states that regular traffic does not include a single vehicle that creates noise above the Section 6.02.430 standard. A single loud vehicle in a parking lot is therefore not protected by the exemption.